Bob Carnes - The Least of These - Tough Times For Texans In A Town Like Alice

Tough Times for Texans: Alice, Texas and the 1980s Oil Bust  This episode centers on Bob Carnes’ Wall Street Journal piece dated April 9, 1986, “Tough Times for Texans,” about Alice, a South Texas town of about 30,000 whose economy depends on oil and gas drilling and service companies. Carnes describes arriving in 1981 as a drilling company area manager overseeing 21 rigs and more than 500 people, then watching rig activity collapse through 1982–83, briefly improve in early 1984, and deteriorate again through 1985 as uncertainty about oil prices, a gas bubble, and political signals rattled investors. 00:00 Meet Alice Texas 01:10 Oil Town Boom 02:15 Alice Personified03:13 Bust Hits Hard 04:32 Brief 1984 Rebound05:39 False Hope 1985 07:07 Oil Price Crash 198608:06 Will Alice Survive 08:59 Interview Looking Back 10:08 Losing Everything 11:22 How WSJ Published It 12:09 Austin Aftermath 12:58 Next Story Tease Post Interview with Boerne Radio's Baron WileySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.