The Texas Oil Bust of the 1980s: Political and Economic Impacts

Abstract

The Oil Bust of the 1980s Effects on Texas The 1980s oil ‘bust’ was a serious surplus of crude oil. Which resulted from falling demand following the 1970s energy crisis. The prices were falling due to lower demand and increased production. As a result, critical political and economic effects would follow. Short and Long-Term Political Effects Houston experienced political and social unrest due to the oil bust in the 1980s. While different leaders faced bankruptcy and auctioning, the unrest continued and Connolly would be hit by a bullet due to these unrests. The oil boom affected Texas politics and the environment (Duca et al, 2015). State officials began to pass restrictions designed to control parts of the oil industry. The legislature passed laws regarding abandoned wells and the protection of groundwater from oil pollution. The oil bust in the 80s resulted in political and social unrest in different parts of Texas (Haggerty et al, 2014). With time, different policies would be put in place to protect the country from similar tragedies in the future. These political policies and regulations continued to serve the state in the future. Short and Long-Term Economic Effects Following the 1980's oil bust, there was a slight decrease in the growth of the global economy. Texas would suffer from this as prices went down for all oil products causing a stirring hit on the general economy. At the same time, due to poor international relationships and falling economies, there was less international growth across the world. Texas experienced little international investment during that period (Haggerty et al, 2014). Different industries like real estate, construction and mining suffered as a result. Little development was experienced, especially in the economic sector. Unemployment also increased in the US as more than 225,000 people lost...