Governor Perry took a road trip this week to California to recruit businesses from the Golden State to think about re-locating to the Lone Star state. Judging from some reactions, not everyone thought that the Governor gave a shining performance. The Governor has made several expeditions to try to enhance Texas’ economic growth (an increase in the capacity of an economy to produce goods and services, compared from one period of time to another). No doubt, the Texas economy has been a source of southern pride because our Gross State Product (GSP) has continued to expand even during economic downturns, and our unemployment rate has remained below the national average for 72 consecutive months.
GSP is a measure of the economic output of a state which is a sum of all value added by industries within the state for a specific period. Its counterpart at the national level is the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which measures the same thing for the entire country. In 2012, Texas’ GSP was about 1.3 trillion while the national GDP was approximately 15.7 trillion growing faster than the national average (about 23% compared to 16% for the national average).
So what’s not to love about Perry wanting California to have a piece of the action?
Seems California Governor Jerry Brown was not happy about Perry’s $24,000 radio ad which asked whether California businesses wanted lower taxes and less regulation. Calling the ad “barely a fart”, Brown blasted Perry for trying to poach jobs, while one journalist asked Governor Perry during a press conference whether Texas’ lax regulatory standards were related to worker deaths. Hoping that California businesses will beat a path to get here, Perry was quick to respond that higher rates were due to the hazardous energy industry, not poor regulation.
And speaking of pathways, Agricultural Commissioner Todd Staples is working with members of the Texas legislature to craft a resolution to challenge granting a pathway to citizenship as a policy solution for illegal immigration. As head of the Texas Department of Agriculture, Staples works to support private sector job creation and economic development, t0 improve consumer
protection, to promote agricultural products, and to expand trade. Staples’ concern is about the shadow economy—unofficial, untaxed economic activity that is not declared for tax purposes and is usually carried out in exchange for cash. His comments come as President Obama highlighted concerns in his State of the Union address about the 11-12 million undocumented persons in the U.S. Staples would prefer to see border law enforcement efforts increased, and he intends to continue to push that message as he goes on his book tour to promote his new book and gear up for a run at the Lieutenant Governor job in 2014.
Happy travels.
Lone Star News Review 