Population Declining in States With Relatively High Dependence on Government

◼ Population growth has been accelerating in states that depend heavily on the private sector and declining in states with relatively high dependence on government. - Michael Barone/Real Clear Politics

This reflects the wearing off of the effects of the big jump in government spending triggered by the 2009 stimulus package and a heartening, though limited, resurgence of the private sector as government spending has slowed....

The shale boom has obviously helped Texas, but it's far from the sole cause of its strength. Its economy is highly diversified, to the point that it's gaining high-tech jobs from Silicon Valley.

From September 2007 to November 2013, while the nation lost 1.8 million jobs, Texas gained 1.1 million. Texas' public policies -- low taxes, light regulation -- have clearly paid off.

Most Texans tell pollsters they're distressed about the direction of the nation -- understandably, since the Obama administration's policies are so different from their own.

But Texas's demographic numbers suggest that traditional American optimism and willingness to take risks are not altogether dead. They're alive and thriving just north of the Rio Grande.