The Gulf: Paying The Bill for the Party Next Door

DRIVE 70 AND FREEZE A YANKEE. That popular Texas bumper sticker epitomized the bitter regional rivalry of the 1970s, when rising energy prices impoverished the Snow Belt and enriched the Sunbelt. With this summer's oil shock, those feelings could come flooding back. The Northeast is already in a recession, suffering from such maladies as plummeting real estate prices and rising unemployment. The Southwest, by contrast, is beginning to bask in the glow of resurgent economic health. Rising oil prices, coupled with a possible shift in wealth because of the savings and loan bailout, may only serve to aggravate the differences between...