What would happen if Texas succeeded at seceding?

[thewayne]

NPR did a little study at the ramifications of Texas seceding from the United States. It would have the 13th largest economy in the world. But they didn't mention a couple of things that I wish they'd addressed. One was infrastructure costs: the United States government, meaning the 49 other states, paid for a bunch of roads, airport upgrades, military bases, etc. How much would it cost Texas to buy all that back. I think the remaining 49 would be due a rebate, which might help quite a bit with the deficit.

And while on the topic of military bases, Texas doesn't have a lot of manufacturers of tanks and jeeps and jets as far as I know. I know they have some aerospace. NASA would probably have to move their Texas operations to Florida or elsewhere since Texas would be a sovereign nation.

And what about agriculture? I don't think Texas produces everything they might want for a varied diet.

But most of all, I'm curious about border control. Considering that Homeland Security now requires a passport or border card to enter or return from Mexico or Canada, I'm sure the same requirement would be made for The Nation of Texas. But what about flights going through DFW or Houston? Would you be able to change planes as long as you didn't leave the international area, or would you have to be re-screened? Speaking of which, Homeland Security just announced that Brits flying to Canada or the Caribbean have to be pre-screened PRIOR to leaving the UK, even though they're not touching American soil. But I'll leave that for another post.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/30/149094135/lone-star-state-of-mind-could-texas-go-it-alone?sc=17&f=1001

Comments

[silveradept]

Sovereign Texas might be like the South - one good blockade and the chief export goes away. And then you're up a creek when it comes to funding yourself in any military or other ventures you want to engage in.