We moved to Austin, Texas, from Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011. We looked at Portland, Oregon, and several other cities in 2010-2011.

You have to analyze the numbers, not just accept them. At the time, Kokomo, Indiana, had "low unemployment" but the largest employer is the Chrysler transmission plant, and that did not seem like a good idea.

I came here in July 2011 for two weeks to check out the town, to get what geographers call "the ground truth." I was impressed. They were in the third or fourth month of 100-F heat and no rain. While many beggars in the medians were waiting for handouts, others were selling bottles of iced water. In fact, just about everything here is for sale. Many little stores offer multiple services from cell phones to title searches; the car out front is for sale, too.

I had no problem walking into offices and asking to fill out an application for employment. If you want to work, Austin - and most of Texas - is here for you. Austin, in particular, has a broad mix of enterprise: the state government and state university, of course; Dell is headquartered here. And they are not alone. When I was first here in July 2011, eBay had just opened a call center. Google, HP, AMD, Silicon Labs, the list is long. And that means mid-range and small businesses, in those support markets. Gaming software is still active here.

But so are South by Southwest, and Austin City Limits. SXSW spawned its own film festival. We have two now. Formula One signed a ten-year contract with the City of Austin. And the "Republic of Texas" motorcycle rally is the second-largest in the nation.

But the key to all this is the people. The government of Texas is just like the government of Massachusetts. We have regulations and insider deals. My favorite was Gov. Rick Perry's $3 Billion bond (backed by future taxes, of course) for "cancer research." CPRIT *Cancer Prevention and Research Center) money went first and mostly to the wife of the chairman. True, she ran a clinic at the M. D. Anderson Center, but without peer review for the grant, the deal just caused the legislature to take it over after an investigation. I don't know where all that is now as it fell off the news.

We have a Railroad Commission. WIthout actual railroads to regulate, they regulate energy.

The State of Texas runs a monopoly on public education. The state buys and distributes all the textbooks for K-12. (That is why JFK was supposedly shot from the Dallas Book Depository. Book depositories are everywhere.)

Without an income tax, the state and cities get their money from sales taxes. The total is 8.25%: 6.25% for the state and 2% for the city. Other cities and counties have other rates. And with taxes go regulations. Although we do have enterprising beggars, I have seen the cops roust out those they do not like for no apparent reason. In the case of an actual arrest, the outcome is a night in jail and sentencing to "community service" i.e., slavery. So, you do not want to have an unlicensed business here. The Department of Licensing and Regulation controls cosmetologists, weather modifiers, architectural barrier removers, and 21 other occupations; but they are not the only regulatory agency. (Remember the Railroad Commission.) Texas does not lack for active government at all levels.

At the local level, property taxes are legally limited to a 1% per year increase, but they get around that by re-evaluating your property. Huge increases are a common complaint. If you want to fight it, you have to make an appointment to take time off from work to argue with them when they are holding a commission meeting. I know a builder who won… a lower increase.

The Great Texas Job Machine is an example of Austrian praxeology at work. It is not a government program. It is not low taxes (certainly not!). It is not a partnership of universities and high-tech corporations. It is not the lack of regulation. It is just the attitudes of millions of individuals seeking to make their own way by maximizing their profits and minimizing their losses.

JBrenner asked how many of the 1.5 million new jobs went to illegals. The easy answer is "None of them." The official number cannot track the dark numbers. However, I assure you that with all the office space here, someone is doing the cleaning. They clean hotels in the morning and offices at night for $7.50 an hour. Anytime you want to take a job from an illegal, feel free to try it.

BTW: Today's illegal immigrant is tomorrow's grandparent of a Supreme Court justice, astronaut, or some job that has not even been invented yet.

The history of the United States is replete with back room deals, outright theft of property, military campaigns to take over territory, religious persecution, slavery, and all kinds of sordid activities that contradict whats in our constitution. Ken Burns has some good documentaries on Netflix. Crony capitalism is all over the place, and I am not surprised its alive and well in Texas too. The idea of our constitution was great, but the execution of it leaves a lot to be desired.

The madness is that the left's agendas are more powerful than the truth -- at least in their minds. Texas is only one example of when to comes to government, less is more. I could cite 100 examples and if I really wanted to work at it, most likely, a thousand. This has absolutely no effect on the lib mentality. It blinds them to the truth and fosters beliefs in illusion.

Texas: An example Progressives wish would go away.

Gawd bless the great republic of Texas. I vote to move the gulch here.

Way to go Texas. I keep hearing about North Dakota too. They're going to be like Colorado in AS.

I think Texas should secede...I tell people I moved to a freer state and they look at me like I'm an alien, but yes...a wonderful state to start over in.

I knew that, besides your organization of this web site, there was a reason I liked you, Scott. If Texas secedes, I will move back there and join them.

I wonder how many of the 1.2 M net job increase are illegals.

Seems like a fabrication, look at the Balkan Shale in North Dakota.

I am sure that some one in Texas could find a job for 0 since he needs one cleaning toilets.