The virus continues to spread in New Mexico. Paul and Wally look at the numbers. Gov. MLG doesn’t attend the pre-election press conference. Paul and Wally assume a big lockdown is coming post-election. Paul shares details on his family’s Halloween celebrations.

Paul has a conversation about the election with Al Jazeera. 

Paul talks about the Gov.’s COVID response in ABQ Journal. 

Paul and Wally offer their pre-election predictions for President, Senate, House, overall control of the US Senate, and NM Legislature.

Gov. MLG proposes a tourism stimulus package for the upcoming session. What could this involve?

National economic data show strong rebound. Will those numbers continue to improve or decline with the spike in the virus?

ABQ City Council (again) to consider mandatory paid sick leave. ABQ Chamber Terri Cole has some strong and welcome words on the issue.

PNM to get out of Four Corners coal plant as well as San Juan. Now “coal free” by 2024. Navajo Nation will purchase the plant and may frustrate environmentalist efforts to shutter the facility.

While everyone is focused on the election we at the Rio Grande Foundation are (yet again) gearing up to fight the issue that simply will not die: mandatory paid sick leave. Read about the latest plan here. 

The plan has been put forth by Councilors Lan Sena and Pat Davis. At first it would apply to employers with 10 or more employees.  Smaller companies would face the mandate starting in 2022.

At the Rio Grande Foundation we have long been critical of such mandates and their negative impact on small businesses, but it is truly mind-boggling that this idea is being pushed at a time when many businesses remain shuttered entirely (and have been since March). Other businesses remain partially open or open at only 25%.

We were extremely pleased to see the following comments from Terri Cole, president and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce in the aforementioned Albuquerque Journal article,  “Many businesses are barely clinging to life as it is due to the pandemic, and a new mandate could be devastating.

“Small businesses need help, not regulation and relief, not higher costs.” Finally, Cole argued that, “Using the pandemic as a reason to mandate paid sick leave is ‘grasping, unserious and disappointing.’”

RGF has been critical of Gov. Lujan Grisham’s big-government economic policies from day one. What we never planned on was a global pandemic that has resulted in unprecedented power being concentrated in New Mexico’s executive office OR the use of that power to pick winners and losers in the State’s economy.

Needless to say, we have been critical of the Gov.’s approach to the Virus AND her willingness to shut down or drastically limit entire industries. The New Mexico media (along with the courts and Legislature) have given the Gov. tremendous leeway in her actions. The Albuquerque Journal article by Dan Boyd in which I am quoted at least DOES give critics a platform and asks some important questions, but the article both labels the Gov.’s response “science based” AND (in the print story) allows the Gov. to claim “I’m going to continue to be a truth-teller).

The fact is that the Virus is NOW spreading out of control while New Mexico remains economically and socially closed (and has been for nearly 8 months) to an extent not found in many other states at this time. My quotes from the Journal article are as follows:

Paul Gessing, president of the Albuquerque-based Rio Grande Foundation, a think tank that favors limited government and open markets, said he believes many New Mexicans have started to tune out the governor’s message.

“The economy has not been as much of a focus for the governor as I think it should have been,” said Gessing.

He also said it’s not realistic to ask New Mexicans to stay home for an extended period.

“I think people are reasonable and are doing their best,” said Gessing, who acknowledged the danger posed by the virus while arguing most people infected make a full recovery.

And, while Halloween was definitely different this year, as the parent of young children, we were not going to miss out on trick-or-treating. So, as you can see from the first photo (taken at an indoor church-sponsored event prior to Halloween) the Gessings are NOT anti-mask. And, we (like many) rejected the Gov.’s “stay home” approach and came up with innovative, COVID-safe ways to embrace Trick or Treating in a safe manner. 

In this unique and timely episode, Paul sits down with two experts on utilities to discuss the purchase of PNM by Avangrid and the impact the push for “renewables” is having on electricity prices and grid stability in New Mexico.

Larry Behrens runs Power the Future NM which advocates for pro-energy policies. Larry’s group has been critical of the Energy Transition Act.

Dax Contreras was an energy trader for five years working for PNM. Dax’s job was to keep the lights on for PNM customers across New Mexico by purchasing (and selling) power to customers across the Western United States.

The following are charts directly from New Mexico’s state page on the New York Times COVID 19 tracking page on October 28. The main takeaways are that New Mexico is in the worst position it has been in terms of the spread of the virus, but, at least so far the number of deaths has not spiraled upward (there has been an uptick to be sure). We will see if that continues or if the situation deteriorates even further.

What is plain to see is that the Gov.’s strategy for stopping the spread has either failed to stop the spread of the Virus OR enough people are tired of them to the point that they are disregarding them (and thus spreading the Virus). Perhaps both are true.

Interestingly and somewhat surprisingly given the her recent statement that this is “the most serious emergency that New Mexico has ever faced,” Gov. Lujan Grisham who has had regular updates will apparently NOT do so this week. Instead David Scrase will be joined by a few other medical professionals on Thursday afternoon.

Just in time for the election, the Rio Grande Foundation’s Tipping Point New Mexico is now available in yet another format: television!In addition to the audio podcast, the show is available in Albuquerque on Saturdays from 1:15pm to 2pm on Saturdays on the Rock of Talk AM 1600 or FM 93.7.

Also, the show is available Thursdays at 5:00 PM on HII 88-9 FM Cloudcroft, 100.5 FM Alamogordo, and KEDU 102.3 FM Ruidoso.

On October 26 and 27 of 2020 New Mexico (including RGF’s home town Albuquerque) received a big snow storm which dumped about 10 inches of snow on the area. Snow is one of many weather phenomena that impact electricity demand (and production, especially when so-called “renewables” are involved).

And, while PNM is currently required to achieve a 20% renewable standard (a requirement that we estimate will cost the State economy $444 million this year alone) and has plans to achieve 100% by 2045, the real-time tracker available on PNM’s website shows that PNM is a long way from relying on unreliable energy sources.

As of 4:30pm on the 27th (several hours after the snow stopped falling) PNM was getting just 9% of its electricity from “renewable” sources. Results vary depending on demand and weather, but 9% is a paltry number.

The Gov. has some new COVID orders. While Paul and Wally both acknowledge that these are more focused on problem areas than her previous orders were, the Gov. has backed herself into a corner in addressing the Virus. Spread is FAR worse than it has been at any other time of this crisis.

To that end, the Catholic Church (Archdiocese of Santa Fe) canceled services moving forward on its own. As we near Halloween what about other important events including Christmas and the State Legislature? The good news is Virus deaths haven’t jumped at least yet.

Avangrid has reached a deal to purchase PNM. Paul and Wally discuss and note that Thursday’s podcast will discuss this in-depth.

According to Wallethub New Mexico’s unemployment rate remains among the least recovered among US states. New Mexico’s September unemployment rate was also higher than any of the State’s neighbors.

In the final presidential debate, Joe Biden said “We are going to transition away from oil and gas. Stop subsidizing the industry.” Wally and Paul discuss the second part of that statement.

Finally, Paul and Wally both voted this past week. They discuss how they avoided the long lines some experienced and who they voted for in the presidential election.

We truly do feel for UNM (and NMSU’s) sports programs, especially those (like UNM football) who have been living in limbo because of the Gov.’s orders. Of course, that “limbo” (and the likely loss of fan attendance revenues for Lobo basketball) isn’t going to do much for the athletics budget looking forward.

But, UNM is generally both too powerful and too unaccountable and the decision to essentially forgive the debts incurred by the athletics department by folding them into the overall UNM budget is unfortunate.

Amazingly, the University has (according to the Journal) “At the end of the 2020 fiscal year, the university had about $346 million in plant fund reserves.” This is the fund out of which the deficit will be paid.

While reducing athletics isn’t enough to make UNM a “lean and mean” entity, folding money-losing “extras” into the overall budget is a way to undermine accountability, a point that we made when a similar move was made with the City of Albuquerque’s golf courses.

The following appeared in the Sun News on October 25 and several other papers and media outlets.

A recent report from the Pew Center determined that New Mexico had the fourth highest volatility in tax revenue collection over the past 20 years. Unsurprisingly, the study cited reliance on oil and gas revenues as the likely cause of this volatility. What the study didn’t consider was the fact that New Mexico’s misguided economic policies actually reinforce our reliance on oil revenues.

Over the years New Mexico has developed mechanisms like the “rainy day fund” and permanent funds (these are two different things) to help smooth the ups and downs inherently associated with rising and falling oil and gas prices and production.

It has been well-documented that New Mexico has risen to be the 3^rd-largest oil producing state in the nation. We often forget that Texas remains the largest oil producer at more than six times the amount produced here in New Mexico, yet Texas, as the report noted, “ranked close to the middle of states for overall revenue volatility.”

Why is that? Simply put, Texas is less reliant on oil and gas than is New Mexico as a percentage of its overall budget. Again, according to Pew, “severance tax accounted for 7.5% of Texas’ total tax collections over the past decade.” That is a far more comfortable position to be in than New Mexico’s reliance for 40% of its budget from oil and gas.

These are all pretty widely-agreed upon facts among New Mexico policymakers and thought leaders. This is where things get tricky.

Democrats, especially their more “progressive” wing (now dominant in the Legislature) seem ready to eliminate oil and gas entirely without much in the way of a plan for how to fund New Mexico government. Long-time “progressive” Albuquerque-based Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino argued in an op-ed this year that New Mexico should “go cold turkey” to stop our “addiction” to oil and gas. Gov. Lujan Grisham recently echoed those sentiments in a webcast with the US Climate Alliance, saying “New Mexico should transition out of fossil fuels.”

Those sound like nice goals to many environmentalists, but aside from raising taxes on a massive scale, how do you fund State government? That question is left unanswered.

According to NMSU professor Jim Peach, New Mexico faces not one, but two threats: 1) the short-term effects of reduced revenues and slower economic growth from the lockdown; 2) the longer-term challenge of replacing oil as a funding mechanism for state government.

Rather than killing the oil industry (or seeing revenues from it decline rapidly due to depressed demand) and then frantically looking to find a replacement, the Gov. and Legislature need to use the 2021 session to enact long-overdue reforms like GRT reform that CAN make us more competitive. Texas has no income tax and is a “right to work” state. It is known to be business-friendly and consistently scores well in state rankings on such issues. New Mexico, on the other hand, is rightly perceived as being rather hostile to business. And, the gross receipts tax is unfair and riddled with breaks for special-interests.

One issue that is sure to come up in 2021 is tax hikes. Professor Peach and others have mentioned them with an air of inevitability. Tempting as they may be, tax hikes will make us even less competitive with Texas and other states as a destination for jobs and economic growth. Given the gulf between New Mexico and Texas in terms of economic competitiveness it is no surprise that the Federation of Tax Administrators ranks New Mexico as having the 7^th-heaviest tax burden while Texas is among the lowest at 47^th.

Ironically, if New Mexico were to streamline government, truly make the state attractive for business, and thus diversify its economy, like Texas, New Mexico’s economy and tax revenues wouldn’t be as volatile. Unfortunately, we have a very long way to go to make that happen.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

The latest Wallethub report on how state unemployment rates are recovering is out. New Mexico remains among the least-recovered states as the graphic below shows:

In other news, according to an October 16 report from the Legislative Finance Committee that we obtained, Gross receipts tax collections in New Mexico were down $31.6 million in August compared to the same month last year, according to preliminary data from the Taxation and Revenue Department.

Furthermore, total fiscal-year-to-date GRT collections through August were down $30.3 million from the same period a year ago, or 6.3 percent.

Basically, it appears that the combined effects of the Governors lockdowns, their increased intensity, and the lack another round of federal stimulus are having serious, negative impacts on New Mexico’s economy. How long will this last? We have no idea.

You may have heard by now that PNM (pending PRC approval) has been purchased by the Spanish utility Avangrid. According to the Albuquerque Journal article detailing the purchase, Avangrid paid 19.3% above the PNM share price.

The following “check” was used by RGF president Paul Gessing as a prop in a 2019 hearing on the Energy Transition Act. It remains relevant as ever, but perhaps should be paid to the order of Avangrid now. 

We don’t know exactly what this all means, but we DO know the following:

1. Gov. Lujan Grisham received a $2,500 donation for her campaign from the Spanish company last year.
2. While Avangrid MAY be able to bring some efficiencies of scale to the deployment of “renewables” in New Mexico, PNM pledged to REDUCE electricity prices.
3. The 19.3% premium (paid by Avangrid) HAS to come from somewhere and it is unlikely those efficiencies of scale will be enough to justify that premium price.
4. This adds another wrinkle to the PRC election and ballot measure on the ballot this fall (the PRC will have to approve or deny this purchase).
5. Arguably the damage to NM rate payers has already been done (or baked-in) by the ETA. The major impact New Mexicans see from this purchase is that one of the State’s only major publicly-traded companies will be no more. Corporate sponsorships, jobs, and other aspects of PNM’s presence could dry up over time.

The latest unemployment rates for states are out (full list can be found here). New Mexico remains in the top 10 with a rate (9.4%) that is higher than all of its neighbors.

The Rio Grande Foundation continues its effort to get Gov. Lujan Grisham to forego her salary until New Mexico drops out of the worst 10 unemployment rates among US states.

On this week’s discussion podcast, Paul and Wally discuss the rising number of COVID19 infections in New Mexico. The Gov. has planned a press conference later today. Paul argues that this rise is a result of the Gov.’s failed lockdown strategy and he expects more shutdowns.

While the number of cases has grown rapidly, the number of deaths has not…at least not yet. Paul argues that this may be due to more effective treatment techniques and suggests a mitigation strategy may be better than a lockdown strategy. He also notes that while hospitals are full, according to UNMH COVID-positive patients represented less than 10% of overall patient cases.

In economic-related news:

NM tax revenues are volatile

NM’s tax burden is heavy

NM unemployment rate is among the slowest in the nation to recover

And, according to the Legislative Finance Committee, job losses are dominated by a few major sectors of New Mexico’s economy while government has seen minimal losses.

Finally, Paul and Wally discuss the constitutional amendments on the ballot as well as the bond issues. Reminder: get out to vote!

In the best of times (pre-COVID19) New Mexico has not done enough to overcome its serious inherent challenges in improving student outcomes. That has become an even bigger challenge with the emphasis on “virtual” learning by the State and districts like APS and Las Cruces (to name two big ones).

The Center for Education Reform is a national education reform organization that advocates across the board for “choice” as well as teacher quality and innovation. In the group’s “Parent Power Index” New Mexico (as usual) under-performs its neighbors. Notably, Arizona, which obtains better results form similarly at-risk students for less money, is the top-ranked state in the nation. You can find the entire, interactive index below.   In the same vein, the Center for Education Reform created a separate report card that just considers and ranks all 50 states based on their charter school laws environments. Again, Arizona takes the top slot while New Mexico  ranks as a low-C in the rankings.

The fact is that New Mexico inherently has challenges in improving educational outcomes. Spending more money hasn’t achieved success. It would be nice if the Gov. or the Legislature defied their allies in the unions and focused on improving the State’s charter law and expanding school choice.

According to a recent Pew Center report New Mexico has very volatile tax revenues when compared to other states. That report was discussed in some detail in this Center Square story. New Mexico had the fourth highest volatility in tax revenue collection over the past 20 years.

What can be done? At the Rio Grande Foundation we have argued regularly for economic diversification through the introduction of more economic freedom, but Democrats who control the Legislature and Governor’s mansions have stood steadfastly against serious economic reforms including, but not limited to, gross receipts tax reform.

The following chart taken from the Pew chart directly shows that NM has the greatest volatility among its neighbors.

Some recent presentations by New Mexico’s Legislative Finance Committee (see chart below) truly show how we are NOT all in this together during the Gov.’s COVID 19 lockdown.

While an overwhelming majority of government workers (a huge sector of New Mexico’s economy relative to other states) are doing just fine, many areas of the private sector have been devastated by the Gov.’s lockdown policies. New Mexico’s oil and gas industry and its leisure/hospitality (tourism) are down massively while others are also way down in terms of employment. The full report is linked above while the relevant chart is below:

As Gov. MLG prepares further lockdown measures for New Mexico’s economy, a new Wallethub report shows that New Mexico (which is already poor and suffers from relatively elevated unemployment) is not recovering from the COVID 19 economic interruption as fast as other states.

In fact, since the start of 2020 NM is as seen the 2nd-worst recovery in unemployment claims since January.

The following shows NM’s performance on unemployment last week vs the same week in 2019.

Given the Gov.’s approach to the Virus and increasing spread (but not deaths), we expect further restrictions on New Mexico’s economy to be imposed this afternoon in addition to what she’s already done this week.

The following is a guest article from Carol Wight, CEO of the NM Restaurant Association.

So much has changed for all of us in the last six months.  It is time to take a look at the raw numbers of the restaurant industry.

To be sure, restaurants are taking the virus seriously. They are cleaning, sanitizing, social distancing, following the CSP’s, and wearing masks. The safety of restaurant employees and customers has been and always will be our top priority in restaurants.

Unfortunately, the economics are not in our favor. According to the New Mexico Economic Development Department’s quarterly summary, the accommodation and food service industries have lost $574 million since January.  This is a 31% decrease from 2019.

The leisure and hospitality industries continue to report the most massive employment losses in the State, with a drop of 25,200 jobs—a 24 percent decrease from last year. It’s heartbreaking. Our employees are like our family. Layoffs may be the hardest thing we have had to do throughout this disaster.  These layoffs don’t just affect our workers.  They include their families that rely on their income for support.

A national survey of restaurant owners shows that we stand to lose one-third of our restaurants by the end of the year. That’s 1,155 New Mexico Restaurants. It’s heartbreaking to see life-long restaurateurs like Edna and Rudy Ortega of Ortega’s in Albuquerque walk away from their business of 30 years through no fault of their own. This virus takes no prisoners.  There are far too many stories like the Ortega’s even to begin to share them here.

Despite meeting many of the (ever moving) gating criteria, NM continues to have some of the most economically restrictive policies during this pandemic. New Mexico is surrounded by states with indoor dining capacities, much more generous than NM.

At this time, NM only has a COVID policy with an intermittent economic policy.   As a small business, you can’t succeed and grow, much less survive, without an economic plan.   We need to know what is going to happen next, and it has to happen fast. Financial assistance and safeguards need to be a part of our State’s plan if our industry will ever be able to “come back.”

We are not in tune with the rest of the country. Before moving our indoor dining capacity to 25%, only two other states were closed. New Jersey and California have a much more robust economy to begin with and a better chance for recovery. As it stands now, only one other State is at a 25% capacity for indoor dining.  If you look at the remaining 48 states, ALL are open to at least 50% capacity, with half of those being open at full capacity.

According to a recent survey of New Mexico restaurants, 54% reported sales being down from 20 to 70%. 16% of restaurants noted sales down over 70%.

Most restaurants reported that they could only accommodate 30% of the previous year’s customers due to social distancing and restrictions.

In a recent survey done by the New Mexico Restaurant Association, one-third of restaurants only have three months until they will have to close permanently, and another 30 percent would have to close permanently in six months.

Where does that leave us? Winter is coming. Survival on 25% capacity is near impossible.  Increased costs as a result of the pandemic have hit all of us hard.   We have asked, through channels, that the Governor open restaurants at 50%.  We are doing our part by offering that with this increase, restaurants will close at 10:00 pm and we will support that all restaurants will need to get the NM Safe Certified Training as a prerequisite to open at 50%.

What can YOU do?

Follow the CSPs.  Wear your mask.  Contact the Governor to let her know you and your family are ready and willing to get back to our dining rooms.

Support the restaurants in your area NOW at this reduced capacity so that they can survive long enough to have hope that our state leaders will increase capacity to 50% sooner rather than later.

Gary Hays’ family has owned and operated Cliff’s (once upon a time it was Uncle Cliffs) Amusement Park in Albuquerque since the 1950s. Gary shares a few stories about the Park and its history (including dropping ‘Uncle’), but mostly they discuss the impact of the current lockdown policies being imposed by Gov. Lujan Grisham, it impacts on the company’s employees, how his industry is dealing with COVID-19 in states where they ARE allowed to open, and he talks candidly about the future of his family’s business. Gary also shares a few details about other policies (like the minimum wage hike) that impact his company.

When the Legislature reconvenes in January many, including some economists, will push for higher taxes. The Rio Grande Foundation has received pledges from dozens of legislative candidates that they WILL NOT raise taxes and you can find that pledge and the list of signatories here.

While Gov. Lujan Grisham has shut the economy down and that will soon impact tax revenues in a negative direction (absent another big federal stimulus), the reality is that many in New Mexico wish to raise taxes regardless of supposed budget shortfalls. A big tax hike, HB 6 was passed in 2019 when New Mexico was experiencing a major budget surplus.

But New Mexico is already a high-tax state. Don’t believe us, check our the chart below from the Federation of Tax Administrators. When compared to our neighbors (and adjusted for incomes) New Mexico has a heavy tax burden, far heavier than any of our neighbors.

Rather than raising taxes on hard-pressed New Mexico families and businesses, we are proud to stand with those who believe that our State taxes us enough already.

The following appeared in the Farmington Daily-Times on October 7 and several other newspapers.

Recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made headlines with his announcement that by 2035 his State will ban the sale of gas-powered vehicles. That is an ambitious goal, but given the time line, it is hard to say what compliance will look like.

But for another, arguably even more ambitious car mileage proposal, one need look no further than New Mexico. Las September New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham announced that by just model year 2022 New Mexico would be increasing its fuel economy requirement for new cars to 52 MPG. The current average fuel economy rate is 25.1 MPG according to the EPA. 

As we noted at the time, Gov. Lujan Grisham (at the time) had “out California-ed California” by adopting even more stringent fuel economy standards than those on the books in California.

Will California’s decision spur Lujan Grisham to action? Perhaps more importantly, is New Mexico REALLY going through with the Gov.’s 52 MPG standard? This was put forth at a time of a record (oil-driven) economic boom in New Mexico. That boom has evaporated thanks to COVID 19 and the Gov.’s lockdown of the State’s economy. She MAY not be as enthusiastic about such radical plans at a time of serious economic challenges.

If you’re expecting to find legislation on this topic from the 2020 legislative session, don’t worry, nothing was even introduced. We have never even seen a formal executive order from the Gov. formalizing this requirement. In fact, after the initial round of media discussion (led off by the New York Times) the issue has been completely forgotten about.

And just to be clear, if the Gov. completely backed away from her plan, we would be more than happy to support such a move. The number of automobiles on the market right now that achieve such a standard is limited to about a dozen or so hybrid models. Considering that “light trucks” now account for 69 percent of the new car market, getting to that 52 MPG average is going to require one or more of the following:

1. Unforeseen, drastic changes in automobile purchasing patterns among New Mexicans result in few trucks and more fuel-efficient vehicles being purchased;
2. Massive taxpayer subsidies will have to be handed out to support the purchase of small/hybrid vehicles and massive taxes will be levied on larger vehicles and trucks.
3. Large numbers of New Mexicans purchasing their vehicles in neighboring states and bringing them home (thus devastating New Mexico car dealerships and the State economy).

As much as our Governor desperately wants to virtue signal to radical environmental groups who so strongly support her, attaining 52 MPG is simply not realistic by 2022. California’s Gov. at least had the good sense to impose his regulations long after he will be out of office, but unless Biden wins the White House and picks her for a position in his Administration, she will have to make some hard decisions about whether to comply with this mandate (or not).

Perhaps it is already a forgotten promise that she never intended to honor in the first place? If so, that is certainly fine with us, but it would seem that New Mexicans should be given an honest explanation so they know what to plan for or expect the next time they walk into a car dealership.

Paul Gessing is president of New Mexico’s Rio Grande Foundation. The Rio Grande Foundation is an independent, nonpartisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility

On this week’s episode Paul and Wally discuss the elections which are ongoing, but early voting which starts on Saturday, October 17.

They discuss the latest on the shutdown, the fact that cases are growing despite lockdown. NM one of four states to cancel high school sports. Impacted students protested.  Gov. Lujan Grisham didn’t impose additional measures beyond the sports cancellation, but Wally and Paul explain what they think the Gov. will do later this week when she has her next press conference?

The Great Barrington Declaration urges a more reasonable response to COVID-19.

According to a liberal think tank, 39% of New Mexicans can’t pay their regular bills.

On this week’s podcast interview Paul sits down with NMSU economist Jim Peach. Peach recently testified to the Legislative Finance Committee on challenges facing New Mexico’s economy. That testimony is recounted in an Albuquerque Journal story.

Professor Peach and Paul begin by discussing New Mexico’s economy broadly. Why are we not competitive with our neighbors and what can be done to change that? Then, Peach and Gessing discuss the oil and gas industry and its outsized role in New Mexico’s economy and what the professor sees in store for it. Finally, Peach and Gessing discuss the COVID 19 situation and both the near and long-term challenges it creates for New Mexico’s economy and whether the federal government should provide additional bailouts to New Mexico and other states.