Southwest Economy Archive

• May 13, 2024
  Addressing Texas grid reliability: Time to go nuclear?

  Garrett Golding, Emily Perlmeter and Prithvi Kalkunte

  Thirty years after Texas’ last nuclear plant opened, new nuclear generation could provide needed power without planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions.
• May 3, 2024
  Texas high tech shakes off post-pandemic slump, readies new growth path
  Texas is poised to lead in new advanced technologies, notably artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductor manufacturing.
• April 16, 2024
  Mexico’s productivity woes limit nearshoring, growth potential
  Industrial policy reform, nearshoring and a deeper Mexico–U.S. partnership could provide tailwinds for Mexican economic growth. Whether Mexico can harness the full potential of such transformative change is less clear.
• April 15, 2024
  Federal deficit, tax inequities, entitlement programs vie for lawmakers’ attention
  Alan D. Viard, senior fellow emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute and former senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, discusses federal entitlements and tax policy challenges during an era of rising deficits.
• March 22, 2024
  Development bank funds border infrastructure to aid U.S.–Mexico trade
  Calixto Mateos, former managing director of the North American Development Bank, discusses his work at the NADBank and its role enhancing trade.
• February 2, 2024
  Hang your hat in Texas: State remains a leader in firm relocations

  Pia Orrenius, Ana Pranger, Madeline Zavodny and Oscar Parra

  Recently released data through 2019 show Texas remains a juggernaut, a leader for business relocations. And while figures covering the subsequent pandemic era and beyond are incomplete, anecdotal evidence suggests Texas remains a go-to spot.
• January 19, 2024
  Brownsville experiencing greatest growth burst ‘in my lifetime’
  Texas National Bank President Joe Quiroga, a lifelong resident of the Lower Rio Grande Valley area and Dallas Fed director, discusses the area’s rapid growth and its future prospects.
• December 15, 2023
  WARN layoff notices signal easing Texas labor market

  Luis Torres and Prithvi Kalkunte

  Even with Texas employment growing rapidly and jobless rates remaining low in 2023, mass layoffs may be heading higher, according to notices of pending workforce reductions filed with state officials.
• December 13, 2023
  Widening gap between rich and poor poses challenge to U.S.
  Economist Jeffrey Fuhrer, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Boston Fed director of research, discusses the nation’s income and wealth gaps and offers proposals to close them. Fuhrer’s recently published book, “The Myth that Made Us,” explores inequalities in the nation’s economic system.
• December 6, 2023
  Fed credibility enhanced when public finds policymakers relatable
  University of Chicago Booth School associate professor Michael Weber explains how audiences are especially receptive to monetary policy messaging delivered by Fed officials whose ethnic or gender background is similar to theirs and outlines the broader implications of such enhanced credibility.