Thinking again of the Great Paradox, I ask Templet whether the appearance of oil in Louisiana reduces the state’s poverty. “No,” he answers, “Louisiana was poor before oil came, and we’re poor today—the second poorest in the U.S.” In 1979, 19 percent of Louisianans lived below the poverty line; in 2014, it was 18 percent. In addition, ill-schooled poor people of any race find it hard to get the kind of highly skilled permanent jobs oil brings in. And oil hadn’t improved the schools—they are financed by local property taxes, which are higher in rich areas and lower in poor ones.
