Category Archives: Articles

It looks like a good year for Texas. The economy is healthy, if not booming. We learned from our mistakes in the 1980’s and pretty much got out of the oil business. Our new economy is diverse–semiconductors, software, biotechnology and … Continue reading →

Are you unhappy with the way your legislators spend money? Now you can write your own state budget with your own computer. The Texas Budget Simulator (TBS) is new software developed by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs … Continue reading →

DHAKA, Bangladesh — When Bangladesh won its independence from Pakistan in 1971 Henry Kissinger called her “the basket case of the world.” Kissinger said that because Bangladesh is: Poor. Per capita Gross National Product is $155. Only one-third of its … Continue reading →

Another election year is ending and with it, another debate about public schools. We’ve heard a lot in recent months about vouchers and charter schools, privatization and local control. The basic issues are the same ones that have preoccupied Texans … Continue reading →

If Republicans increase the number of seats they now hold in the United States Senate by seven, they become the majority party for the first time in eight years. They just might do that. An equation developed by two political … Continue reading →

As we near an election and another legislative session, we will hear a great deal about things Texas does badly. Let’s discuss an area where Texas leads the nation–state research funds for colleges and universities. Texas is the only state … Continue reading →

It’s summer in central Texas. The temperature has been in the upper 90’s for weeks. It hasn’t rained in a month. Just as in every other hot, dry summer, the level of the Edwards Aquifer is sinking. The headlines are … Continue reading →

For about 75 years, Shanghai was the leading port in Asia. When the Chinese Communists took the city over in 1949, they wanted to maintain Shanghai’s flourishing economy as a model of Communist prosperity. Not surprisingly, they could not do … Continue reading →

Recently, the Wall Street Journal worried that Texas was in the “thrall of tax-and-spend politicians.” Much as we appreciate advice from New York City about how this state should be run, we must suggest that they not worry their little … Continue reading →

Early in May a sewer line in Tijuana, Mexico, broke and dumped 12,000,000 gallons a day of untreated waste into the Pacific Ocean, polluting beaches as far up the coast as San Diego, California. That pollution was an accident. For … Continue reading →