Though it will not be clear until GDP numbers are released next year, California, as the global capital of the tech and entertainment industries, may have already overtaken Germany as the world’s 4th largest economy, per an estimate cited by Bloomberg opinion writer Matthew Winkler.
“It had already leapfrogged Brazil (No. 7) and France (No. 6) in 2015 and supplanted the UK (No. 5) in 2017. Although many of California’s current figures won’t be published until 2023, estimates suggest the state may have already caught Germany, with at least one forecast implying California is ahead by $72 billion when considering the state’s recent growth rate,” Winkler writes, no doubt to the chagrin of the Trump fanboys who freaked out when California took the (hypothetical if it were an independent nation) 5th spot from the UK back in 2017.