Natural gas boom could benefit economy/fuel job growth

Albuquerque Business First ran a column poo-pooing the notion that the boom in natural gas production could lead to more jobs and economic growth nationwide.

This may indeed be the case for now and it is certainly true that manufacturing doesn’t employ as many people as it did in the past (largely due to technological innovation), but it doesn’t follow that the natural gas boom is lacking in impact or that it could not have a major impact on the economies of both New Mexico and America as a whole.

For starters, Japan is desperate to buy our cheap, clean natural gas (especially from New Mexico). Unfortunately, regulatory issues in Washington (and indecision on the part of the Obama Administration) have delayed investments needed to truly unleash the natural gas boom.

The point is that sometimes economic changes take a long time to flower especially when government is involved. Maybe the boom won’t be in domestic manufacturing, but will come about in the form of more drilling and exports. If so, that is the free market at work. Oh, and this boom will be especially beneficial to New Mexicans in terms of both jobs created and economic growth.