Some TEXAS MONTHLY Stories on Economics
Bruce McCarl »
59, agricultural economist, College Station
[February 2008]
The Mildcatters »
The lessons of the eighties boom have been internalized by today’s energy entrepreneurs, who seem nothing like their risk-loving forebears. They’re happy playing it safe, which is why their preferred commodity is gas, not oil.
by Mimi Swartz [July 2005]
(Much) Higher Education »
Who thinks tuition deregulation stinks? Middle-class kids—and me.
by Patricia Kilday Hart [February 2005]
"I Had a Great Future Behind Me" »
So says my friend Jost Lunstroth, one of thousands of formerly successful Texans for whom unemployment is more than a statistic.
by Mimi Swartz [February 2004]
Showdown at Waggoner Ranch »
It’s the nation’s biggest spread within the confines of a single fence—more than eight hundred square miles extending across six counties. So it’s fitting that the family feud over its future is big too. And mythic.
by Gary Cartwright [January 2004]
Bottom's Up »
The U.S. Census Bureau says that Cameron Park, a Brownsville colonia, is the poorest community in America—and yet optimism thrives there. How do you explain to statisticians and demographers that poverty is a relative thing?
by Cecilia Ballí [January 2003]
The Best of the Texas Century—Business »
Paul Burka on Santa Rita No. 1, Jordan Mackay on Humble Oil, and Brian D. Sweany on the inventor of the century.
[December 1999]
Entrepreneur of the Century—Michael Dell »
“Entrepreneurship is the art of the possible. Anyone with money and a good idea has what it takes to write his own ticket. The hitch, of course, is follow-through. You have to execute. You have to do it. And no one has done it as well as Michael Dell.”
by Evan Smith [December 1999]
Boom Doom »
How exceptionally good economic times are coming back to haunt us.
by Patricia Kilday Hart [April 1999]
The Six-Billion-Dollar Men »
How to spend a huge budget surplus will be the defining issue of the coming legislative session. It will also determine the political futures of George W. Bush, Rick Perry, and Pete Laney.
by Paul Burka [January 1999]
He Told Us So »
University of Texas economist Jamie Galbraith used to get laughed at when he preached the gospel of full employment. No one’s laughing anymore.
by John B. Judis [December 1998]
Hoop Scoop »
A slam dunk for San Antonio’s economy.
by Brian D. Sweany [March 1998]
A Shrimp Tale »
After nearly fifty years of working Matagorda Bay, Vernon Bates could soon watch his business shut down for good—and so could the thousands of other shrimpers who make their living on the Gulf Coast.
by Robert Draper [October 1996]
Rainpower »
A rain windfall in the Hill Country
by Joe Nick Patoski [October 1996]
Life After Oil »
Midland’s energy companies are still laying people off a decade after the bottom of the bust. But—surprise—the city’s economy is booming again.
by Paul Burka [April 1996]
Silicone City »
From invention to litigation, the breast implant has done more for Houston’s economy—and its psyche—than anything since oil.
by Mimi Swartz [August 1995]
45 Years (Sat Nov 22 at 5:28 PM)
Can You Spare Some Change I Can Believe In? (Sat Nov 22 at 4:10 PM)
Even Worse, They're Cutting Back on Monocles (Fri Nov 21 at 8:39 AM)
