The UHaul metric

Live Oaks:

Sometimes numbers are worth a thousand words. The American Legislative Exchange Council recently issued a report that found (HT: Houston Strategies):

When comparing California with Texas,U-Haul says it all. To rent a 26-foot truck one way from San Francisco to Austin, the charge is $3,236, and yet the one-way charge for that same truck from Austin to San Francisco is just $399. Clearly what is happening is that far more people want to move from San Francisco to Austin than vice versa, so U-Haul has to pay its own employees to drive the empty trucks back from Texas.

For the past year I have been documenting studies and reports that show that Houston (and Texas) leads the nation in job creation, cost of living, and a host of other economic categories....

...

While some of the sunbelt states have been feeling the stress of the downturn, Texas appears to be riding above it at this point. Low taxes and no hostility to energy production appear to be key factors. The rest of the country should give it a try.