Thursday, June 23, 2022

If Texas quits the US

 

 


Texas is talking about pulling out of the U.S.

Supposedly it is impossible because of constitutional issues.. My personal feeling is that any state (not just American) wants to be separate let them. That includes places like Scotland, Barcelona, etc.

Texas, if it did, would be very busy setting up its new country.

1 All Texans would need passports to enter the U.S. and other countries. A trip to Las Vegas, Oklahoma, Louisiana would be impossible without a passport. It might take time for passports to be recognized in other countries. 

Some might not recognize them at all.  To those who never travel away from home, this would not be a problem. For those working for international companies that haven't left Texas would they no longer be able to travel for work.

Would Texas require passports for U.S. Citizens to enter Texas?

2 Trade treaties. No business in Texas could do business outside of Texas without a new treaty. That would mean imports and exports.

3 Currency: The dollar would no longer be valid. A new currency needs to be established and it might or might not be recognized.

4 Payments: Texas sends the U.S. government about $261 billion annually in taxes but receives $39 billion back. This would be a win for them.

5 Businesses: Would headquarters of the 25 multinational have to move? Doing business with a newly formed country could prove difficult. https://www.concordia.edu/blog/top-25-fortune-500-companies-headquartered-in-texas.html?  Texas has 8.6% of the GDP of the country at $1.755 trillion. For a list of Texas company headquartered in the state https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Texas_companies


 

6 Ratings: Texas would no longer have to worry about its overall below average U.S. national rating in most categories of important life. Or maybe it never has.

7 Disasters: In case of another weather disaster, which is far from impossible, Texas should not expect the U.S. to pony up the another $2 billion as it did for Hurricane Harvey. They will be on their own for natural disasters.

8 Oil: Texas has a good bargaining tool with its oil and refineries, but as fossil fuels are being reduced this is a medium term benefit.

And those are just the start.  My fear is Texas is not able to govern itself. Look at its electric grid, for example.

 

No comments: