Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right: What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas
Erica Grieder.
PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107, copyright 2013.
284 pages. Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas, by Erica Grieder, breaks Texas down into its basic components in order to explain to non-Texans what Texas truly is. Grieder’s covers four main topics in her book. One of the topics she talks about is the economy. A major event that Grieder discusses is the Texas miracle, which was a series of “happy coincidences” that brought Texas many jobs and boosted its economy. The Texas miracle could not have happened in just any state. Texas had its own model …show more content…
Texas was originally part of Mexico until after the Texas Revolution. Soon after Texas won its independence, it joined the United States. This annexation split the United States down the middle because Texas supported slavery. That is not the only strike Texas has against it however. Dallas, Texas was the location of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and Texas is home to weak gun control, and supporters of the death penalty. These factors have not impressed the United States. Texas’s government takes up another portion of her book. When Texas was established, Texans wanted very little to do with the government. Because of this, the Texas legislature only meets one-hundred and forty days every two years. Texas went through quite a few constitutions and finally landed on one that greatly limits the government. The state has also changed political parties over time. Texas’ political party changed from Democrat to Republican, and is now starting to change from Republican to …show more content…
The book is complete on its own, which is good for the people who are new to Texas and want to learn about the Lone Star State without reading several books. This means that this book does not need a sequel. While the book does not necessarily “need” a sequel, it would be nice if Grieder wrote a book about how easy it would be to transfer the Texas government system to the federal level. She does imply, however, that it might be possible to do so. She was very clear on most of her points, but a couple chapters that were a little difficult to understand. These chapters were The Shadow State and The Coming Crack-up. Unlike the other chapters, the topics of these chapters did not stick out. After a little while of searching, I finally figured out what they were supposed to be. The Shadow State was about the separation between Texans and the Texas government, and The Coming Crack-up seemed to be about argument inside the Republican Party. They also did not seem to make the most relevant contribution to the
Erica Grieder.
PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107, copyright 2013.
284 pages. Big, Hot, Cheap, and Right What America Can Learn from the Strange Genius of Texas, by Erica Grieder, breaks Texas down into its basic components in order to explain to non-Texans what Texas truly is. Grieder’s covers four main topics in her book. One of the topics she talks about is the economy. A major event that Grieder discusses is the Texas miracle, which was a series of “happy coincidences” that brought Texas many jobs and boosted its economy. The Texas miracle could not have happened in just any state. Texas had its own model …show more content…
Texas was originally part of Mexico until after the Texas Revolution. Soon after Texas won its independence, it joined the United States. This annexation split the United States down the middle because Texas supported slavery. That is not the only strike Texas has against it however. Dallas, Texas was the location of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and Texas is home to weak gun control, and supporters of the death penalty. These factors have not impressed the United States. Texas’s government takes up another portion of her book. When Texas was established, Texans wanted very little to do with the government. Because of this, the Texas legislature only meets one-hundred and forty days every two years. Texas went through quite a few constitutions and finally landed on one that greatly limits the government. The state has also changed political parties over time. Texas’ political party changed from Democrat to Republican, and is now starting to change from Republican to …show more content…
The book is complete on its own, which is good for the people who are new to Texas and want to learn about the Lone Star State without reading several books. This means that this book does not need a sequel. While the book does not necessarily “need” a sequel, it would be nice if Grieder wrote a book about how easy it would be to transfer the Texas government system to the federal level. She does imply, however, that it might be possible to do so. She was very clear on most of her points, but a couple chapters that were a little difficult to understand. These chapters were The Shadow State and The Coming Crack-up. Unlike the other chapters, the topics of these chapters did not stick out. After a little while of searching, I finally figured out what they were supposed to be. The Shadow State was about the separation between Texans and the Texas government, and The Coming Crack-up seemed to be about argument inside the Republican Party. They also did not seem to make the most relevant contribution to the