Good morning and happy Saturday. I heard someone say this week that Texas is now so big and so impactful that it’s pretty much its own nation-state. They’re not wrong. I also heard (separately) this week that Texas can expect to officially move up a spot to the world’s eighth largest economy sometime this fall.

I’d say these are pretty good reasons that a subscription to Regulated Discourse will pay for itself.

Don’t forget to take the kids for some tax-free shopping this weekend!

• It’s 77 days until the November 7, 2023 general election and 196 days until the March 5, 2024 primary elections.

• Only 24 days until the Texas Senate convenes for the impeachment trial of Ken Paxton.

• Home sales across Texas are down 2.8% over this time last year while the average 30-year mortgage rate in Texas this week was 7.39%. The average home price in Texas remains around $350,000. 

• The Consumer Price Index is 2.7% in Texas (compared to 3.0% nationwide). The unemployment rate in Texas is 4.1% (compared to 3.6% nationwide).

• A barrel of West Texas Crude Oil sold yesterday for $82.87, a 3.65% increase compared to 6-months ago and a 7.72% increase compared to a year ago.

• As of yesterday, Texas has 77 active wildfires affecting 13,680 acres.

• Austin has now had 38 consecutive days of triple digit temps—an all-time record. Meanwhile, 86% of the state is in some stage of drought while nearly 8% of the state is in exceptional drought.

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