I'm not defending the keep lowering taxes to negative infinity mantra. However aren't Oklahoma's problems also a product of lower oil and gas prices
They are, but oil land gas is a very cyclical industry. Human nature is to assume the good times will be here to stay.
You're right we flourished in the years following WWII We were the last man standing. Yes the money put into school and other institutions but we can't spend public money like that anymore cause we don't have that competitive advantage anymore particularly in industries like auto and steel. Those industries used to make tremendous income and hired plenty of workers Now they don't
Local and state pensions are a very serious concern and effect nearly every corner of the country unfortunately. You answered your question with your first several paragraphs; obligations are made in the past that aren't taken seriously until it's an issue. Same thing is happening on the federal level with SSN and Medicare; boomers want entitlements and lower taxes....
Not for Oklahoma.... that may change in the future but that's not the case for that state in the last several years and in the very near future. Texas has been the biggest benefactor shale so far.
My only point is that we didn't flourish because of tax policy. It was good to invest in government but we had money to invest because we dominated every industry partly because everyone else to rebuild.
Fracking and horizontal drilling has changed the market for everyone because drilling costs have decreased because of increased supply and ease to reach that supply. It's changed Saudi Arabia as well as Oklahoma. There is no more artificial inflation in the price of either commidity and there is no more supply panics. Supply panics is literally a thing of the past
Did they not know that oil and gas prices were cyclical? Seems like this something to consider in the "CUT TAXES!" equation. As far as I know, Oklahoma didn't have to go to 4 day schools weeks or have trouble affording gas for their state troopers during previous oil busts.
This isn't a bust. It's a permanent restructure of the market. Fracking has completely changed supply. There is plenty of oil and it's cheap.
I meant the US has flourished throughout a majority of its existence but was not as taxed and regulated of a state until the more recent era. The 1870's to early 1900's industrial revolution era was not a slave labor era yet it created the greatest growth in lifestyle changes of any time in any country in the history of the world. It wasn't slavery or a draft. People took on work if they felt the pay was commensurate. There were strong Unions at the time that often resorted to violence and if people weren't happy with a job they could leave. Standard Oil paid much better than most companies, as did Ford Motor Company so they never had issues with labor.
Yes all the flourishing economies and the social mobility in Europe is a great example we want to follow. What is sad is that you don't recognize that the more government controls business, the more wealth and power become controlled and generational. It keeps entrepreneurship from people that don't have it due to high regulation and cost of entry in businesses. Lower regulation and taxes in effect provides a lower cost of living to people. A lower cost of living provides a spread between earnings and costs and creates savings. If you want a society that government controls and regulates everything it protects those in power and makes it harder for new people to break their molds of the class they grew up in. I'm for a fast moving capital society in which capital and ideas flow quickly to the best and not those with the knowledge to get through government rules and regulations. What do you do for a living by the way? I'm just curious why such desire to place all your trust in the kind of people that are attracted to working in government.
We are in about year six of the current level of oil and gas prices. This is permanent Edit:. Fracking has opened access to supply we essentially never put in supply estimates from just ten years ago. I don't know if it's because we didn't know it was there or we knew it was there and we didn't know we could get to it. Regardless, oil and gas people say there's a lot more oil than we thought. Pay attention, there is no more talk of running out. That's a paradigm shift.
We've had this discussion before I believe, but Much of Europe has more social mobility than the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_mobility
Texas's economy is a lot more diverse than Oklahoma's and not as nearly dependent on oil gas as people may think
I believe the issue is the whole notion of making promises based on uncertain futures and then the nature of politics in which the guy holding the bag decades later gets hit. Its akin to an insurance company that can make incredible profits this quarter by signing up terrible drivers. Inflows galore but over time if the risk is not priced right it will collapse! CEO or Governor looks great or gets re-elected but the problems come up under someone else's watch.
