PumpBlogs 
Some Positive Economic News
The recent economic news in the United States has not been encouraging. The failure of Bear Stearns, the collapse of IndyMac Bank. . . even the purchase of Anheuser-Busch by Belgian company InBev. The news is grim.
However, an article from Reuters last week provided some encouragement for the process industries. Familiar companies like Eaton, ITT, SPX and ABB are set to post positive gains in these tough times. Increased activity overseas and the devalued dollar certainly help. The demand for energy also means significant industrial activity, which helps these OEMs.
One state is also benefitting from increased energy demand. NBC Nightly News recently ran a story (see the video here) about how the increased energy demands have bolstered the Texas economy. For the first time, Texas surpassed Virginia as the state with the number one economy in the United States. (Anyone who has been to Houston recently can testify to how much it has benefitted from this new oil boom.) It’s good news for Texas . . . and since I was born and raised in Texas, I was especially excited to hear the news.
On the downside, of course, nothing is permanent. The rising gas prices have decreased the U.S. family purchasing power and, consequently, will decrease U.S. demand for oil, as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke commented yesterday. Riding an energy wave, Texas won’t be number one forever. However, we can still maintain hope in the process industries overall, as international demand and the necessity of the process industries mean continued business for our industry. This hope and the recent news from industrial companies provide a nice silver lining in an otherwise grim economic picture.
