IF ONLY W DID CONTROL THE WEATHER (via Brad S.):

Texas Economy Surges on Gains From Katrina Rebuilding, Energy (Bloomberg, 5/15/06)

Texas's economy is surging nine months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast as rebuilding spurs job growth and oil and natural-gas production increase in response to higher energy prices.

Texas, the second-largest U.S. state by population, added 274,000 jobs in the year ended March 31, according to the state Workforce Commission. The pace was the fastest since 2000. The state estimated that its budget surplus will almost double to $8.2 billion, second only to California's, for the two years ending in August 2007. [...]

[T]he 9.9 million-person workforce in the state is expanding at about 3.1 percent a year, more than twice as fast as the rest of the U.S., Sigalla said. [...]

Production of goods and services in 2004 totaled $881 billion, the third-most of any state and more than neighboring Mexico, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Last year, single-family housing starts jumped 15 percent to 205,462, Fed data show.

Imagine what unlimited immigration could do for your state?

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 15, 2006 1:45 PM