The stories are now piling up of oil-bust contagion working its way deeper into the overall economy of oil-producing states, including Texas. Unlike some other oil producing states, Texas has a vast and diversified economy. So from the beginning, it was said that this time, the oil bust won’t hurt like it did last time; the pain would be contained in its isolated corner of the economy. But this theory is now falling apart. It comes on top of the weakness of the overall US economy.
And consumers are reacting.
Sales tax collections in May, for sales in April, plunged 7.1% year over year, according to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. It was the worst year-over-year decline since March 2010 at the very bottom of the last retail crash during the Financial Crisis and the oil bust that ended in a V-shaped recovery as the Fed’s bailouts, QE, and ZIRP started taking effect.
The $2.4 billion in sales taxes collected in May was also lower than two years ago, a first since the depth of the Financial Crisis.
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-feds-litter-of-sick-wall-street-puppies-keeps-grinding-in-harms-way/