Native Texan Paul Burka of the Burka Blog has been with Texas Monthly Magazine since the very beginning. After graduating with a B.A. in history from Rice University, Burka obtained his Juris Doctor from the UT School of Law. Burka is a member of the State Bar of Texas which is a state agency responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all licensed attorneys in Texas. Burka also spent time as an attorney with the Texas Legislature (texasmonthly.com).
In his October 15th editorial “The best-run states: another view,” Burka compares Texas’ recovery from the "Great Recession" to that of the state of California’s. The two states have always been measured against each other because they are two of the nation’s largest states in size, population, and ego. However, Burka believes that it is unfair to compare the commercially superior Lone Star to the lassitude of the antiquated Golden State.
Burka cites Investors.com’s October 14th article,“A Trenchant Tale Of Two States”, by reiterating what recent statistics have been reporting about Texas’ outstanding economic resiliency. California businesses, on the other hand, are burdened by high taxes coupled with overregulation. The article praises Texas for its relatively low taxes on businesses and its non-existent state income tax. In fact, the lack of income tax is one of the main reasons why CEOs find Texas to be so attractive (Burka). I agree that Texas is extremely CEO friendly, supporting small and mid-size businesses while curtailing the growth of labor unions with its “right-to-work” laws.
While I am not sure if Texas is back where it was before the recession, I trust Burka’s analysis of Texas’ economic state. His insight far surpasses mine. Although he doesn’t seem to refute or affirm the data presented, I assume that that is because experts have come to a consensus. Either the article is referring to the “payroll count” of CEOs only, or perhaps the “pre-recession” employment levels of Nov 2007 were not so good to begin with. The truth is not clearly stated in this article. However, I think we can all agree that, while Texas is better looking comparatively, we can and should be at a much higher rate of employment, overall.
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