Should Texas join the EU? (Houston, Dallas: to rent, mortgage, houses)

[lndigo]

Aside from the benefits of free trade and freedom of movement, it is also worth noting that the Euro is stronger than the United States Dollar, and adopting the Euro as our state's currency would give Texans more purchasing power and help offset the obscene cost of living inflation in Austin and the rest of Texas. Thoughts?

[Austin97]

having a strong dollar is actually bad as it means that our exports are more expensive. A weak dollar means imports are more expensive, but economically a weak dollar is better. China grew its economy by purposefully keeping their currency artificially low so they could underprice the entire world.

I would not base joining the EU solely on the strength of the dollar. The EU brings huge regulatory burdens that are a huge negative.

Texas would never join the EU because of all the mandatory worker protections (mandatory maternity, mandatory vacation etc). There are also large regulatory burdens based on climate change, consumer protection etc.

[Trainwreck20]

Eh, not to mention we would have to close all the borders to the neighboring states.

[karpo1]

EU commission suggesting new laws without any citizen for voting for appointees sounds bit anti-Texas way.

No thank you.

[Nancysun]

I would say No as well. There are other factors that should drive joining the EU and not just currency rate.

[Dangerous-Boy]

no

[txtea]

Ok....somebody escort the OP to the state line. Lock the gate behind him.

[ScoPro]

Originally Posted by txtea

Ok....somebody escort the OP to the state line. Lock the gate behind him.

Why would Texans want to subject themselves to being told what to do by the Germans (re: the Stasi stooge Merkel) and the socialist bureaucrats in Brussels?
Not to mention the EU would demand Texans give up their 2nd Amendment rights.

Insane to even consider such a bizarre notion.

[verybadgnome]

Then we would have the pleasure of bailing out Greece after they once again mismanage their economy.
Facebook employees in Austin supporting Greek pensioners! Kumbaya!

[VAF84]

There is no reason I can fathom for Texas to join the EU. I've been to Europe a number of times; love the great geography, history, architecture, food, and mostly great people, but not the bureaucracy/governing. If Texas had to leave the US of A, it could operate unilaterally much more successfully than being a part of the EU. ScoPro nailed it... no need to join a union that will burden the Texas with onerous and job destroying regulations, loss of personal freedoms (i.e. second amendment), weaker national defense, and so on. Not only would joining not be break even, it would be a net negative.

It sounds like the only benefit you list for joining the EU is to offset inflation for Austin and the rest of Texas. I'll take a minute to make a couple of comments here. Austin's rapidly increasing cost of living is a mix of things not limited to the points below, none of which have to do with value of the dollar versus the Euro:

- Supply/Demand - Geographically, half of Austin butts up against the hill country where it's harder to build houses unlike Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, where there's plenty of space to spread out and an infrastructure that is roughly keeping up with growth. For decades Austin consistently pushed back against expanding infrastructure. Austin has more zoning restrictions, which means you can only build houses in certain areas unlike a city like Houston. The regulatory environment in Austin seems to me to be more restrictive than other Texas cities. All this to say, retailing/housing supply is constrained. Demand is through the roof. People are moving in from across the country at a pace that exceeds the ability of the city to keep up with the growth. Lack of supply increases values. Increased values mean increased rents passed on to tenants or increased mortgage payments for owners. Consequently, increased values mean increased property taxes which get passed on to tenants/owners.

- Increased regulation - More people, inevitably lead to more regulation. Want to bootstrap and open a small coffee shop? Not so fast. You have to find a place to rent which will be expensive due to above bullet point. Then you have to abide by code, you need certifications. No matter if it's grab and go. Need ADA compliant bathrooms (min 2), certain number of parking spaces, a wheel chair ramp, industrial kitchen grade sink and plumbing. All these need to be drawn up by a Professional Engineer, they must be reviewed and approved by the city permitting office. Those guys are always backed up, and time is money, so maybe you need to hire an expeditor. Next thing you know, your little coffee shop cost $200,000 to open up. Luckily we haven't had a mandatory $15 hr min ordinance, and they shut down the sick leave ordinance, otherwise you'd really see costs increase. In general the aforementioned stifles small business and leads to only big retailers with big pockets having the ability to do business in that environment.

- Increased market values from out of state migrants - Someone sells a $1M home in CA. or NY. that's the equivalent of a $300k home in Austin. Who do you think wins that bidding war? A house nearby was posted for $325k, in two weeks a cash buyer for $405k. That's 25% over asking. Furthermore, remote workers are distorting prices. If the remote worker's pay does not get adjusted to the new cost of living for the area they are working in, it can distort prices for locals. Some companies are making these adjustments, but honestly I don't think they ever truly adjust to the real local cost. Thus those who used to do well, have pricing pressure that pushes them down, the new migrants increase the gap between the two.

- Fed Money - More recently we had a lot of stimulus to offset the Covid shock. They literally printed a bunch of money and handed it out, followed by decreasing interest rates. There were some intended and unintended consequences. To keep it simple, lower rates lead to higher prices on big ticket times because buyer take into account that their monthly payment may not change much if they buy something more expensive.

Here's a pretty good link for you too:
https://marketurbanismreport.com/blo...-city-in-texas

I could go on and on.... but I'll address one more part of your comment. You said inflation in Austin and "rest of Texas".

Unless you're in the upper middle class, you will have a much more comfortable life in the other Texas metros. You're paying a premium to live in Austin. If you're willing to give up whatever unique appeal Austin has, you will have more spending money, a nicer house, and more options in any of the other large Texas cities. If you go out at least one hour from the major hubs (except maybe central Tx hill country), cost of living drops considerably. However, many people aren't willing to do that.