Just How Global is California's Economy

"Compared to the rest of the United States, California exports more services and manufactured goods, and its ports ship more exports by air than by land or sea. I find that the California economy does not differ markedly from the rest of the US in some standard measures of economy globalization, but that California firms are the leading edge of emergent trends.

Immigration has always been an important policy issue for California. High skilled immigrant entrepreneurs like Chinese and Indian computer scientists and engineers, are running more than 30% of the regions high-technology firms and account for $25 billion in sales and 58,000 jobs. It is vital to focus on boosting California exports and attracting foreign companies, but global economic integration is likely to provide new challenges and opportunities. California firms have much more to gain from efforts to open up trade than firms in other states because California businesses rely far more heavily on exports."

Source: Valley News