America's two most populous states take dramatically different approaches to making economic policy. California has the nation's highest top marginal tax rate, while Texas doesn't have an income tax. Every 1 in 3 Californians have health insurance through Medicaid, but only 1 in 6 Texans do. Both states are betrayed by their electric grids during extreme events, yet California and Texas manage those problems differently.

On Friday, Sept. 24, the LBJ School and Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) co-hosted academics, business leaders and policymakers to discuss these differing policy approaches and their impact on the economics and well-being of both states. Full agenda below (all times listed in CT) — WATCH:

Learn more about America's two most populous states and their dramatically different approaches to making economic policy with help from SIEPR Director Mark Duggan.

For updates on the event, follow @SIEPR and @TheLBJSchool, and join the conversation using #CATXPolicyForum.

AGENDA

1—2 p.m. CT: Setting the stage: the big picture on economic policy in California and Texas

• Mark Duggan, The Trione Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and The Wayne and Jodi Cooperman Professor of Economics at Stanford
• Sheila Olmstead, Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin (UT), a University Fellow at Resources for the Future and a Senior Fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center
• JR DeShazo, Dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin (UT)

2—3 p.m. CT: Growth, taxes and business: the competitive landscape

• Chuck DeVore, Vice President of national initiatives and the Policy Director for the Election Protection Project at the Texas Public Policy Foundation
• Lenny Mendonca, former Chief Economic and Business Advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom, Senior Partner Emeritus of McKinsey & Company, a lecturer on inequality at the Stanford Business School, and Chair and primary owner of the Coastside News Group
• Moderator: Christina Kent, Ph.D. candidate in the department of economics at Stanford University, and University of Texas at Austin alumna

3—4 p.m. CT: Powering the two most populous U.S. states: similar challenges, different approaches

• Michael Webber, Josey Centennial Professor in Energy Resources at The University of Texas at Austin
• Frank Wolak, Holbrook Working Professor of Commodity Price Studies in the Department of Economics at Stanford University and SIEPR Senior Fellow
• Moderator: Sheila Olmstead, Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin (UT), a University Fellow at Resources for the Future and a Senior Fellow at the Property and Environment Research Center

4—5 p.m. CT: Taking the Pulse on Health Policy: The different approaches of California and Texas

• Sandra R. Hernández, President and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation
• Mark McClellan, Director and Robert J. Margolis, M.D., Professor of Business, Medicine and Policy at the Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University
• Moderator: Mark Duggan, The Trione Director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and The Wayne and Jodi Cooperman Professor of Economics at Stanford

More on Texas as a bellwether and its role as an economic engine, by Steven Pedigo, the founding executive director of the LBJ Urban Lab: Texas Is the Future of America (New York Times, Oct. 5, 2021)