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View Poll Results: What do you think will become Houston's next big new economy sector besides oil?
Technology/IT 10 25.00%
Engineering 1 2.50%
Construction 1 2.50%
Medical 21 52.50%
Other (please specify) 7 17.50%
Voters: 40. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 06-04-2010, 01:45 AM
 
Location: TX
867 posts, read 2,980,563 times
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Extremely hard to say what is going to be the "hot" sector to work in.

Oil and gas over the extreme long term is out the door so we can scratch that. Renewable energy, maybe, but I can see that going to a city that has proximity to solar/wind developments (i.e. Phoenix, El Paso, Las Vegas, maybe Lubbock) akin to Houston's proximity to the Gulf's offshore drilling. Medical will stay big for the foreseeable future. Telemedicine is rapidly advancing, though. NY Times did a great story on it just the other day. Telemedicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Same for robotic surgery. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotic_surgery

TXDungeonMaster I think brought up the one closest to which I believe in. Rice has a few renowned leading researchers in nanotech. http://cnst.rice.edu/

Rapidly developing technologies such as computer automation, the Internet, artificial intelligence, renewable energy, robotics and nanotechnology (to name just a few) could radically change (read: eliminate) the job market. Commercial real estate could also bite the dust (or at least change dramatically) due to telecommuting and online shopping (both relatively new concepts still in infancy). As if commercial RE didn't have enough to worry about.

Look at the prevalence of vending machines these days, too. Best Buy has vending machines you can buy an iPod or digital camera from. Hey, didn't iPods/iTunes screw up record stores and digital cameras change photo development?

Tons of examples...

Except for construction, all of those jobs can be done online to some degree (telecommuting/overseas outsourcing/telemedicine) and the capability is getting better. Isn't it ironic how the supposed "lucrative" careers are in a sense "eliminating" jobs? However, I don't see this as a negative development, personally. Not going to say why as I've gotten in a 100+ post long thread debate over it.



The rapid pace of developing technology (iPhones are more powerful and more portable than desktops PC's from 2000) will leave this world qualitatively different in the future and will leave pinpointing the next "hot" sector nearly impossible. And it could very well be irrelevant anyway... To say we're "only at the tip of the iceberg" is a gross understatement.

Last edited by Alphalogica; 06-04-2010 at 02:26 AM..
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Old 06-04-2010, 05:19 AM
 
912 posts, read 2,559,419 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dv1033 View Post
You probably should look into how China's currency manipulation really works and how debt works if you are trying to go there. China is certainly a growing giant but it has barely touched upon the issues that developed countries such as those in Europe and America have experience: wage issue, healthcare, social security, etc. China can only go so far on the path it is pursuing.
You're judging China by and applying to it Western standards. They aren't following the democratic model of capitalism. This is a completely different paradigm.

Look at their history: they play the long game and currently they are in the process of conquering you (the USA) economically. Sure it might take a couple of hundred years but either way get ready to speak Mandarin.
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Old 06-04-2010, 06:11 AM
 
Location: ITL (Houston)
9,221 posts, read 15,974,778 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alphalogica View Post
Extremely hard to say what is going to be the "hot" sector to work in.

Oil and gas over the extreme long term is out the door so we can scratch that. Renewable energy, maybe, but I can see that going to a city that has proximity to solar/wind developments (i.e. Phoenix, El Paso, Las Vegas, maybe Lubbock) akin to Houston's proximity to the Gulf's offshore drilling. Medical will stay big for the foreseeable future.
I've heard people say this before, but don't know why. Houston is the center of the energy industry. I highly doubt the companies in Houston would move to Phoenix/El Paso/Las Vegas/Lubbock because they are close to a few wind farms. Not to mention there is more to "green energy" than just wind. They can build wind turbines up and down the coast, and not to mention the one they want to build wind farms in the Gulf.
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Old 06-04-2010, 06:51 AM
 
Location: TX
867 posts, read 2,980,563 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scarface713 View Post
I've heard people say this before, but don't know why. Houston is the center of the energy industry. I highly doubt the companies in Houston would move to Phoenix/El Paso/Las Vegas/Lubbock because they are close to a few wind farms. Not to mention there is more to "green energy" than just wind. They can build wind turbines up and down the coast, and not to mention the one they want to build wind farms in the Gulf.
Houston is the center of the American oil and gas industry, not so much the energy industry as a whole.
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Old 06-04-2010, 06:59 AM
 
Location: Tower of Heaven
4,023 posts, read 7,382,121 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alphalogica View Post
Houston is the center of the American oil and gas industry, not so much the energy industry as a whole.
35% of energy companies in Houston work in the green sector, mostly solar and wind.And their growth is huge !
Houston is also the largest purchaser of wind power in the nation !

Houston will be a giant in this sector !
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Old 06-04-2010, 06:59 AM
 
Location: TX
867 posts, read 2,980,563 times
Reputation: 547
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scarface713 View Post
I've heard people say this before, but don't know why. Houston is the center of the energy industry. I highly doubt the companies in Houston would move to Phoenix/El Paso/Las Vegas/Lubbock because they are close to a few wind farms. Not to mention there is more to "green energy" than just wind. They can build wind turbines up and down the coast, and not to mention the one they want to build wind farms in the Gulf.
Houston is the center of the American oil and gas industry, not so much the energy industry as a whole. The whole "Houston is Energy Capital of the World" is more or less today a marketing slogan. Back in the day, when the US was much more dominant in this industry, one posited that whatever city is the energy capital of the US is also that of the world. However, when one does research today, they will find that US oil companies' share of proven oil reserves is rather minuscule. I believe it's in the single-digits percentage-wise. In fact, 3 of the 6 supermajors aren't even American. (RD Shell, BP and Total).

As for them moving, they (and corporations in general) do it all the time. Where does Halliburton's CEO reside? Clue: It's not the US. Didn't they just move from Houston to Dallas a fews ago? Wasn't El Paso Corp. previously based in...El Paso a few years back? Didn't Schlumberger move from NY a few years ago too? There are tons of other examples of O&G firms moving to where the money is, I'm sure.

I also mentioned solar as well. If you follow my posts, I do talk quite extensively about solar energy, much to the chagrin of a few on this forum, it seems.
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Old 06-04-2010, 07:09 AM
 
Location: TX
867 posts, read 2,980,563 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RenaudFR View Post
35% of energy companies in Houston work in the green sector, mostly solar and wind.And their growth is huge !
Houston is also the largest purchaser of wind power in the nation !

Houston will be a giant in this sector !
It's still way too early to tell. Though there are quite a few energy companies in Houston that are involved in green energy, for the vast majority it accounts for a relatively small percentage of their operations.

Wind turbine manufacturers today are primarily centered in Europe.

Solar cell manufacturers (due to its relationship with semiconductor manufacturing and design) are mostly located in California and there a couple in Colorado. I know Colorado is putting up a good fight to attract renewable energy (mainly solar) manufacturers.
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Old 06-04-2010, 10:15 AM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,857,465 times
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Medical is already huge. Texas Medical Center is the city's largest employer. Extremely important and significant... people come from all over the world, especially to places like M. D. Anderson, and spend many more dollars elsewhere while they're here.

Hopefully biotech and nanotech grow further here.
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Old 06-04-2010, 10:35 AM
 
1,743 posts, read 3,827,232 times
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It's already Medical. OP should be asking what is 3rd place.
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Old 06-04-2010, 12:17 PM
 
12,735 posts, read 21,812,979 times
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Well what is third place?
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