A frequently, and recently repeated mantra of California politicians alleges that if separated from the US as a separate country, California would be the "sixth largest economy" among nations of the world.

Not quite, apparently, although Gov Arnie repeated this "statistic" quite recently.

California economy really isn't 6th largest, an AP report, cites:

"State's economy drops to 8th-largest in world, despite conventional wisdom."

... ... ...

"California's economy no longer ranks No. 6, but rather is the eighth-largest economy in the world.

"The state, with about 37 million residents, ranks behind the United States, Japan, Germany, China, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, according to U.S. Commerce Department and World Bank figures. Spain and Canada complete the top 10."

Actually, California had slipped to 7th place before Gov Arnie was first elected governor, but apparently no one pointed it out to him that the state was in such pitiful decline when he took over.

Personally, I was a bit surprised at a couple of countries with "larger economies" than Canada, but I guess those beaver pelts just aren't moving like they used to. I guess I wasn't paying any better attention than Arnold.

One also must wonder - would the US still hold the #1 place if we got rid of California?

John