Economic Progress in the Texas Economy
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Since 1969, the Texas economy has grown rapidly, consistently matching or Economic Progress exceeding the growth of the national Seconomy from one decade to the next. Real personal income growth rates in in the Texas Economy Texas matched the U.S. rates even during the oil bust years of 1979–89 and Robert W. Gilmer exceeded U.S. rates in 1969–79 and 1989–2001 (Table 1). Measured by total population, growth in Texas was substan- tially greater in all periods. The state’s largest metropolitan areas—Dallas–Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio, which together make up what is known as the Texas Tri- angle—have contributed the largest part of this growth, especially since 1979. Out- side the Texas Triangle cities, real income growth has failed to match U.S. growth since 1979, although population has expanded somewhat faster. This growth has improved Texas’ eco- nomic position relative to the rest of the United States. Texas moved from the nation’s fourth most populous state in 1969 to second in 2001, trailing California but ahead of New York and Florida. In terms of personal income, Texas has moved from the sixth largest state econ- omy in 1969 to the third largest today, behind California and New York. The state’s large metropolitan areas Table 1 have similarly moved up the ranking of Growth of Population and Personal Income in Texas and the United States the nation’s largest cities.1 Dallas–Fort (Average percent per year) Worth, Houston and San Antonio made Population most of their climb through these rank- 1969–1979 1979–1989 1989–2001 United States 1.1 1.0 1.2 Texas 2.3 1.9 2.0 Dallas–Fort Worth 2.4 3.0 2.6 Houston 3.4 1.9 2.3 Austin 4.1 3.8 3.9 In terms of personal San Antonio 1.9 2.1 1.8 Texas Triangle 2.8 2.5 2.5 income, Texas has Rest of Texas 1.7 1.2 1.3 moved from the sixth Personal Income 1969–1979 1979–1989 1989–2001 largest state economy United States 3.7 3.0 2.9 in 1969 to the third Texas 6.0 3.0 4.3 Dallas–Fort Worth 5.4 4.7 4.7 largest today, behind Houston 8.0 2.4 5.1 Austin 2.3 5.6 8.3 California and New San Antonio 4.7 4.2 4.0 Texas Triangle 6.5 3.8 5.0 York. Rest of Texas 5.2 1.7 2.9 NOTE: Based on 1999 metropolitan area definitions of the Office of Management and Budget. Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston use the consolidated metro area definition. SOURCES: Bureau of Economic Analysis; author’s calculations. OCTOBER 2005 | FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF DALLAS 17 Table 2 success of the Texas economy not by its Rank of Texas Triangle Metro Areas in United States by Population and Personal Income size, growth rates or ranking, but by the Population state’s ability to improve the welfare of its 1969 1979 1989 2001 citizens. In particular, we will look at the Dallas–Fort Worth 12 9 9 8 state’s ability to raise its per capita income Houston 13 10 10 9 levels to those of the nation—to join and Austin 75 63 63 39 perhaps outperform the nation’s main- San Antonio 37 33 33 32 Texas Triangle 4443 stream. Income per person presents a number of flaws as a measure of general Personal Income welfare, but it serves here as a widely rec- 1969 1979 1989 2001 ognized and useful summary of the stan- 3 Dallas–Fort Worth 13 10 9 8 dard of living. Houston 16 9 10 9 Austin 86 69 55 37 Texas Per Capita Income San Antonio 45 39 38 35 In 1969, per capita income in Texas Texas Triangle 9433 was $3,373, or 87.7 percent of the U.S. SOURCES: Bureau of Economic Analysis; author’s calculations. level. Fueled by the oil boom after 1973, Texas’ per capita income grew rapidly to briefly exceed that of the United States by Table 3 1981–82 (Chart 1). The 1980s oil, banking Contribution to Texas Personal Income Growth and real estate bust quickly erased these Percent gains, and by the end of the decade, state 1969–1979 1979–1989 1989–1999 1989–2000 1989–2001 per capita income had returned to 87.9 Texas 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 percent of the U.S. level. Dallas–Fort Worth 23.6 31.9 30.7 31.3 30.6 The 1990s brought new advances rel- Houston 28.5 23.8 28.2 28.6 29.7 ative to the nation as oil, high tech and a Austin 4.1 6.0 8.7 8.6 8.3 free trade- and maquiladora-inspired San Antonio 6.3 8.1 7.1 6.9 7.0 boom along the Texas–Mexico border Texas Triangle 62.6 69.8 74.6 75.4 75.5 produced another burst of Texas eco- Rest of Texas 37.4 30.2 25.4 24.6 24.5 nomic growth. By 1998, Texas per capita SOURCES: Bureau of Economic Analysis; author’s calculations. income returned to 94.4 percent of U.S. levels and made no further progress through 2001. ings between 1969 and 1979 (Table 2).2 8.3 percent. The combined metro areas, We can examine Texas per capita Since 1979, Dallas–Fort Worth and Hous- collectively designated the Texas Triangle income growth both geographically and ton have shared the eighth through tenth in the table, accounted for three-fourths by the components of income—wages spots in population and personal income, of the state’s income growth between 1989 and salaries, proprietor’s income, prop- while San Antonio moved slowly upward and 2001. erty income, transfers and other sources. to 32nd in population and 35th in per- In this article, we will measure the By component, the most interesting sonal income. Austin, however, made steady and dramatic gains. In 1969, at No. 75 in pop- Chart 1 ulation, Austin was the size of Convergence of Texas to U.S. Per Capita Income Levels Canton, Ohio, or Fort Wayne, Ind. But by Index: U.S. per capita income = 100 2001, at 39th, Austin’s population com- 120 pared favorably with that of Nashville or New Orleans. During the same period, 110 Triangle cities Austin surged from 86th to 37th in per- 100 sonal income. Table 3 summarizes the contribution 90 Texas of these different metro areas to Texas’ 80 personal income growth. Except for the 70 oil bust years, Houston contributed Rest of Texas nearly 30 percent of growth, and Dallas– 60 Fort Worth’s growth exceeded Houston’s 50 by the late 1970s. San Antonio’s growth ’69 ’73 ’77 ’81 ’85 ’89 ’93 ’97 ’01 contribution held steady at 6 to 8 percent, while Austin’s doubled from 4.1 percent to SOURCE: Bureau of Economic Analysis. 18 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF DALLAS | OCTOBER 2005 Table 4 results come from the growth of wages Growth Rate of Real Per Capita Personal Income and Factors Contributing to Its Growth and salaries and proprietor’s income. The (Average percent per year) geographic designation focuses largely on the Texas Triangle cities, which have Component Percentage Point Contribution Per Capita fueled both the state’s growth and most of Personal Nonfarm wages Proprietor’s Property Transfer Other its recent convergence to U.S. per capita income and salaries income income payments income 1969–1979 income levels. United States 2.6 1.6 –.1 .3 .4 .4 Texas 3.6 3.0 –.2 .2 .2 .4 Framework for Analysis Dallas–Fort Worth 2.9 2.1 .1 .2 .2 .4 The general framework used here is Houston 4.4 4.2 –.1 –.1 .1 .3 shown in Table 4, which summarizes per Austin 3.4 2.7 –.1 .3 .1 .5 capita income growth in Texas by compo- San Antonio 2.7 1.3 .1 .3 .4 .6 nent of income, geographic area and time El Paso 1.4 .9 .2 .3 .6 –.6 Texas Triangle 3.5 2.9 0 .1 .1 .4 period from 1969 to 2001.4 The data are Rest of Texas 3.4 2.8 –.5 .4 .3 .4 presented as percentage point contribu- tions to average annual real per capita 1979–1989 income growth in each region and time United States 2.0 1.4 0 .7 .1 –.1 Texas 1.1 .2 0 .7 .2 0 period.5 Dallas–Fort Worth 1.6 1.1 .1 .4 0 –.1 For example, the growth of per capita Houston .5 –.8 .5 .6 .2 0 income in Texas from 1969 to 1979 aver- Austin 1.9 1.7 –.6 .6 0 .1 aged 3.6 percent per year, with most of the San Antonio 2.0 1.1 .1 .7 .1 .1 growth (3 percent per year) coming from El Paso 1.7 .2 –.2 .7 .1 .9 wages and salaries per capita and smaller Texas Triangle 1.2 .3 .2 .6 .1 0 contributions from property income (0.2 Rest of Texas .6 –.6 –.5 1.1 .4 .2 percent), transfer payments (0.2) and 1989–2001 other per capita income (0.4). Proprietor’s United States 1.7 1.8 .1 –.1 .2 –.2 income per capita grew more slowly than Texas 2.2 2.4 .4 –.4 .1 –.3 other components, reducing the growth Dallas–Fort Worth 2.0 2.4 .2 –.3 .1 –.3 Houston 2.7 2.3 1.0 –.6 .1 –.2 rate by 0.2 percent.