by Wolf Richter
Wolf Street
This is no longer a blip, but a new reality.
It is by now an indisputable fact, driven home by just about everyone, including the Dallas Fed, that the Texas economy is big, diversified, and “highly resilient,” and that the collapse of the oil boom, while it may cause some “negative ripple effects,” won’t dent the overall economy.
Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan himself had pointed that out. The energy sector accounted for only 2% of the state’s employment – albeit well-paid employment including many specialized engineers – and 10% of the state’s GDP, “a good deal lower than in the 1980s, when that oil bust pushed the Texas economy into a major recession,” he said.