Hold On There, Pahdnah

Unemployment adjusted for population growth

Said a well mathematic'ly versed one:
"On Texas, let me be the first one
To confirm their job rates
Are the best of the states,
Whether Perry's the best or the worst one."

In response to last Friday's limerick ("Faith-Based Economics"), which cited the work of economists attempting to debunk the "Texas Jobs Miracle," a conservative friend sent a link to a meticulously researched blog post that concluded, in essence: "Now wait a minute - this here Jobs Miracle is real!" The Political Math Blog, by Matthias Shapiro, analyzes the data behind the claims and counterclaims that are loosed in the heat of electoral combat. Shapiro concludes:

My advice to anti-Perry advocates is this: Give up talking about Texas jobs... Not only are they creating them, they're creating ones with higher wages.

Whether Texas Governor Rick Perry, in his eleven years in office, had much to do with the Miracle is another matter, and may lead us to question the extent to which any political executive can ever be said to create (private sector) jobs.

Faith-Based Economics

Gov'nor Perry, waxing quite lyrical,
Says: "Texas produced a jobs miracle!"
But economists who
Put this claim to review
Say the Miracle isn't empirical.

Texas' Governor - and now Republican Presdential hopeful - Rick Perry likes to boast about the "Texas Miracle": that the Lone Star State added more jobs more quickly than any other. Unfortunately for Mr. Perry, his candidacy wasn't more than a week old when the Miracle was disproven by a number of authoritative sources. The Big Picture blog probably sums up the takedown most comprehensively; in short, Texas' unemployment rate, though somewhat better than average, reacted like everyone else's to the recession. What's more, the employment rate (number of working adults / total population) is worse than average, and Texas ranks near the bottom on a host of quality-of-life measures.