This wonderful map in last week’s Economist shows how all the US states rank internationally as economies, on 2009 or later figures, as measured by GDP in US dollars. California’s economy is slightly smaller than Italy’s, so if it were a country it would rank 8th, ahead of Brazil. New York state is Australia; neighbouring Vermont is Yemen. Way down south, Texas is Russia and Mississippi is Bangladesh.
And Kansas (GDP: $124.92 billion) is the new New Zealand ($117.79 billion).
So many states are doing so badly. Nigeria as Alabama makes sense. But I think you'll find that's Mississippi on a par with Bangladesh, while next door Israel is Louisiana. The poorest state in the Union. Who knew ?
ReplyDeleteQuite right, that is indeed Mississippi. I was peering at my Times atlas in haste. I even have a friend who lives in Louisiana so there is no excuse.
ReplyDeleteMind you, Mississippi's GDP is $95.91 bn and Vermont's is $25.44 bn, lower even than North Dakota's measly $31.87 bn. I think Vermont must be the loser on the day.
How apt - NZ is a flyover country.
ReplyDeleteLet's see if there is a connection of the spirit, given we've turned out to be Kansas. We had 'One Were Warriors' and 'A Good Keen Man'. They've got 'In Cold Blood' and 'The Wizard of Oz'. Yep, sounds about right.
ReplyDelete