Oil Hits $94 A Barrel

Should we be sad or happy? Me, I think Dallas should be very happy. Thanks to Fred Florence, the Republic banker who figured out how to lend money for drilling by estimating reserves in the early 1930s, Dallas became the finance center of the Texas oil industry, which is why (besides Neiman’s) so many oil families live here. Those families, now in their third and fourth generations, are awash in unexpected dollars, which will flow into the Dallas economy. Meanwhile, the larger economy is doing fine.