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Texas is known for its limited regulations, low taxes and low costs, a strategy that has helped its economy become the ninth largest in the world. But that prosperity is in jeopardy, and there is one glaring problem: The state is fast becoming one of the country’s most unaffordable to live in.
In a series of articles, Bisnow Texas reporters Olivia Lueckemeyer and Maddy McCarty are exploring the “Texas Miracle” and what might be threatening it. On this episode of Bisnow Reports, the reporters talk over their findings and we hear from the longtime Texas Gov. and former Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, who is credited as the architect of the Texas Miracle.
“I know from personal experience, my daughter and son-in-law two years ago moved from Las Vegas to Austin, and they were shocked at the cost of housing,” he said.
He stressed that he doesn’t believe the government should intervene in the housing crisis, however.
“Government should do a few things, do those few things really well, then get the hell out of the way and let the private sector do what the private sector does best,” Perry said. “If you become so popular that the market is able to raise the cost of where people can’t afford it, at some time in the future there will be a self-correction.”
