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Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

economist.com

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Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#21

Post by frollogaston »

pyuser583 wrote: post #8
anon291 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

Then why are so many people moving to Texas?

Because it's cheaper, partially because yes taxes are lower but also because it's just cheaper. The weather makes Texas less desirable than California, and it's almost as if they tax based on that.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#22

Post by frollogaston »

jnakano89 wrote: post #3

About half of America’s off-grid energy projects are in Texas. The OpenAI/Oracle data center in Shackelford County is running on its own gas plant. That’s the real Texas advantage. It’s not just taxes or cheap power. It’s that you can put the power plant and the inference cluster in the same operating loop to avoid waiting years in an interconnection queue.

Those companies building AI datacenters in Texas are still mostly hiring for higher-paid office positions (like SWE) in the Bay Area, Seattle, NYC, etc because that's where the leadership still is. Before this, it was the same, California had almost 0 datacenters while the rest were in like SC, OR, TX, NV, IA. You could argue CA should've been more receptive to datacenters because they bring decent jobs, but I don't see a reason to focus so much on them.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#23

Post by bmitc »

frollogaston wrote: post #19
bmitc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is high tax in Texas, much less insanely high? There is no income tax. Property taxes are okay-ish. It has a standard sales tax. > Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. California alone accounts for a third of the homeless population in the U.S.

How many homeless people in California are actually from the state? Cause it seems like within CA, they move to big cities. Democrats then say that high-valued real estate is causing homelessness, and Republicans blame lack of law enforcement, but I don't see how it's either of those.

Almost none are from out of state. 90% were living in California when they became homeless, and 65% were born in California. It doesn't even make sense as to why a homeless person would voluntarily move to California where literally everything, including food, is more expensive and housing is impossible. Plus, homeless people lack the means to easily move around. California's housing situation is the worst in the country. It even has the lowest percentage of homes actually owned by homeowners.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homelessness_in_California

https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2024/07/californ...

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#24

Post by malshe »

anon291 wrote: post #7
cactacea wrote: post #4

> In the early 2020s Texas was luring in remote workers And not a single one of the people I know that moved there want to still live there. ymmv I guess

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

Property taxes are relatively high in Texas but houses are so much cheaper. Also, the cost of living in Texas is far lower than in CA. From an economic perspective, living in Texas is a no brainer.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#25

Post by curiouslearner1 »

Rover222 wrote: post #6

California is an incredible example of how to drop the ball when running a powerful state. Texas is of course on the other end of the spectrum in terms of regulation and being business-friendly. Something more in the middle of the two is obviously ideal.

I’ve heard this a lot and am curious to learn why this is the case. As an employee at firms in SoCal then NorCal, I only enjoyed my living and work time in CA. Perhaps, I would see differently as a business owner? Curious to become an informed citizen and learn what isn’t working in CA

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#26

Post by MAustriaGA »

pyuser583 wrote: post #8
anon291 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

Then why are so many people moving to Texas?

[flagged]

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#27

Post by linguae »

bmitc wrote: post #23
frollogaston wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many homeless people in California are actually from the state? Cause it seems like within CA, they move to big cities. Democrats then say that high-valued real estate is causing homelessness, and Republicans blame lack of law enforcement, but I don't see how it's either of those.

Almost none are from out of state. 90% were living in California when they became homeless, and 65% were born in California. It doesn't even make sense as to why a homeless person would voluntarily move to California where literally everything, including food, is more expensive and housing is impossible. Plus, homeless people lack the means to easily move around. California's housing situation is the worst in the cou…

Not disputing any of the statistics cited, but there is one advantage of being homeless in California compared to other places: favorable weather, especially along the coast. Snow is a once-in-a-generation event outside high-elevation areas, and while it does freeze on some winter nights, it’s rarely below 30 F. There are many parts of the country where temperatures sometimes get low enough to be life-threatening for those with inadequate shelter, heating, and clothing. The coastal areas of California also typically don’t get too hot. Heat is more of an issue inland, particularly the Central Valley and the desert.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#28

Post by anon291 »

pyuser583 wrote: post #8
anon291 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

Then why are so many people moving to Texas?

A lot end up moving back and are upset they don't get their prop13 savings. California becomes cheaper the longer you live in it. Texas doesn't

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#29

Post by anon291 »

bmitc wrote: post #10
anon291 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

What is high tax in Texas, much less insanely high? There is no income tax. Property taxes are okay-ish. It has a standard sales tax. > Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. California alone accounts for a third of the homeless population in the U.S.

Texas has high property taxes. This causes people to need to move. It also spurs construction causing prices of homes to stay flat. For the typical homeowner, the total combined appreciation of your home in CA combined with the savings from the no moving property tax once you've been there a while more than covers the California tax burden.

My colleagues and direct reports in Texas constantly have to move as their property appreciates. This alone results in excess cost that is essentially a tax on not being rich.

Re: Texas is America Inc's new centre of gravity

#30

Post by anon291 »

frollogaston wrote: post #20
anon291 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

people move to Texas thinking it has low taxes. It doesn't. Washington state has a much lower tax burden. For a normal earner, California has a lower tax burden than Texas. It is surprisingly insanely high tax. Of course California also has a much larger safety net than Texas. So for most working people it's a no brainer as to which state is better

Even when you look at those rankings that take property tax into consideration, CA is way higher than TX. And the people who see a dime from the CA safety net aren't the ones paying property tax.

Don't take into account the higher appreciation in California .

I disagree about the safety net. I was a high earning California resident (mid six) and when I was laid off, I got my unemployment and my kids got free Medicaid that ended up paying out quite a bit. The safety net is pretty nice.

Since that payout from insurance, my total tax burden in California was actually negative. Had I been in a state like Texas I would have paid less in tax but more overall.

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