http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/01/comparing_us_states_countries The Economist published this interesting article where they take the GDP of each US state and give us a nation to which it matches. It's pretty mindblowing that my home state of Indiana is on par with Thailand. The real surprise is that California = Italy while Texas = Russia. Freakin' Russia. Yes, Russia has seen better days but that's still astonishing.
I suppose this is a strong sign of the way in which the US population and economy is moving south and southeast. The Carolinas can match 2nd tier European nations. Pretty impressive. And, as always, the US can count on Mississippi to bring us shame no matter what.