The Californian economy has overtaken Japan’s to become the fourth-largest in the world by gross domestic product (GDP).
That is according to data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), a fact highlighted by the California governor’s office as it battles President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
The IMF put Japan’s GDP at $4.02 trillion in 2024. That compares to California’s GDP of $4.1 trillion for the same year, according to the BEA’s figures. It places the state behind only the United States, China, and Germany in global rankings.
And we keep sending tax money to welfare red states that bitch about us. We also have this great economy, yet can’t seem to build a high speed train network no matter how much money we spend. In addition to a fucking ridiculous housing market crisis that could be addressed with some highly progressive tax structures on dwelling ownership. But, yay us, I guess. Our fast-food workers get at least $20 an hour. I’m not sure why a “liveable wage” is only important to fast-food workers, but they were also considered critical workers during the pandemic, and that minimum wage is still below where it should be, taking historical inflation into place.