Editorial roundup

The ‘Texas miracle’

If you believe in the Texas miracle, as we do, you might want to hear about an under-reported trend now unfolding in our state.

In broad terms, there are only a handful of ways to expand an economy. One involves increasing productivity, such as developing new technologies or shifting workers to higher-skilled vocations. Another is to increase the number of people who are working. … Last year, Texas added almost 190,000 migrants, which approaches the number of newborns. But total migration was one-third lower than in 2015 due to a steep drop in cross-state relocations. Other regional economies are improving and baby boomers are retiring, so fewer U.S. workers have to go to Texas to chase their dreams.

Since 2000, the net increase from migration — that is, the difference between those moving in and those moving out — has averaged about 200,000 people a year. …

Since 2000, immigrants accounted for about 40 percent of the growth in the state’s workforce. So as Pia Orrenius, a Dallas Fed senior economist and coauthor of the report, put it: “There wouldn’t be a Texas miracle without immigration.”

And that raises a fundamental question: Today, with the flow of foreign workers slowing down and domestic newcomers in decline, how can Texas keep expanding its skilled workforce and keep leading the nation in economic growth?

One of the best ways is to nurture our own. We have to increase the number of Texans who earn a college degree or postsecondary certificate. Such progress would lift many families out of poverty while stoking the economy, regardless of the trend among migrants.

One way or another, Texas needs all the talent it can get.