But We Still Can't Properly Fund Education?
posted by Zach Patton
This is an absolutely fascinating map. It renames each U.S. state with the country that has a simlar GDP.
It's kind of stunning. You always hear the line about how if California were its own country, it would have a higher GDP than France.
But have you ever thought about how Texas' GDP is equivalent to Canada's? Or that Connecticut and Greece each pull in about the same amount of money? Or Tennessee and Saudi Arabia?
Seriously, it's very interesting. And it really drives home the notion that America as a whole has a staggeringly high GDP. According to this source, the U.S. has nearly three times the GDP of Japan, the next-largest individual country. (We have about the same as the European Union as a whole.)
Via kottke.
The one that shocks me is New Jersey = Russia.
Posted by: Josh Goodman | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 12:10 PM
Hey! You stole my state-observation.
Anyway, I understand this is SOLELY a comparison of economies and production, but it's literally impossible to disentangle the names and the shapes from their respective political and emotional feelings.
The fact that, say, Alabama "=" Iran brings up a flood of memories of the past, thoughts for the future, and alternate lights on the present.
THAT has to be one of the more powerful pieces of cartography I've seen in a while, although the site itself has some more interesting ones.
Posted by: Lurker | Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at 06:03 PM