Locator: 48786BURGERS.
Updates
July 20, 2025: wow, this is really, really hard to sort out -- the "In-N-Out Burger story." I can go either way on this story. This is a great example when two "opposing" opinions can both be correct.
So at 10:07 a.m. Sunday morning where do I stand on this issue? From a purely superficial business case review -- and very, very, very superficial -- I am quite impressed that the CEO of and heiress to In-N-Out Burger has decided to expand eastward, regardless of all the associated "political baggage." She is in good company. Larry Ellison announced in April, 2024, that he was moving Oracle's headquarters from Texas to Nashville. That move has not been completed, but is apparently underway, in a "measured" process.
July 20, 2025: I first posted this story yesterday -- with regard to "In-N-Out Burger moving out of California." The headline was misleading, as noted in the original post. In addition, there were other concerning issues. So I took the original post down, put it in draft, and did some more checking.
As far as I can tell, neither the NYTimes nor The Wall Street Journal has posted this story. I find that very strange, unless this is not a big story financially, and it has more to do with politics, right-wing reporting, religious and/or cult issues than California's economy.
So, I was curious.
The meme is that California's economy is the 8th largest economy in the world based on GDP.
Note: there's a lot of disparity in figures below. This is because:
- measuring GDP is difficult
- numerous agencies estimate global GDP figures and come up with different numbers
- sources often fail to state, or at least make clear, whether their figures are nominal GDP or real GDP
- sources are not comparing apples to apples, or oranges to oranges
- however, having said all that, the available information suggests:
- California's economy is resilient, perhaps even surging compared to Covid some years ago
- it is generally considered that nominal GDP numbers put California's economy in fourth place globally, surpassing Japan the past year (possibly as early as 2024; possibly no earlier than 2025)
- however, high costs in California place California 11th or 12th globally when real GDP is compared.
So, it depends on who is measuring what and almost anyone can find data to support their argument.
My 30-second soundbite:
California's economy is resilient, has surged recently, and has moved up in global rankings, but much of that is due to nominal GDP (due to inflation, high costs, especially the high cost of gasoline). Due to those high costs, California's economy may be dropping in the global rankings based on real GDP.
Global rankings comparing Japan and California are affected greatly by "purchasing power" of their currency. It appears Japanese citizens are finding prices that their prices have held still/remain flat, possibly coming down a bit while California residents are without question seeing higher costs, particularly with regard to gasoline, housing, and perhaps food.
[Important story not being told: of all the states, the state most affected by tariffs on Japan is California, and among all the tariff talk across the US, Japanese tariffs my be the worse (or at least second to tariffs on China).
Some background supporting the above data points:
According to ChatGPT: in fact, California is now the fourth largest economy in the world, having passed Japan
- California: firmly among the global top four, not barely but firmly
- as of April 2025, California's nominal GDP reached approximately $4.1 trillion, surpassing Japan ($4.02 trillion) and ranking 4th in the world, just behind the US, China, and Germany
- nominal: California is 4th-largest economy in the world
- real GDP: $3.37T
- for several years, it had held steady as the 5th-largest, behind the US, China, Germany, and Japan
- California's economic engine is powered by diversified sectors: from tech and entertainment to agriculture and finance, plus trade via major ports
- however, high costs and inequality mean that when adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), things are markedly different
- California might rank closer to 11th or 12th, reflecting the impact of living costs
- Texas: again, based on nominal GDP, ranks 8th globally, ahead of Canada and Russia
- Texas is also notable as the top US exporter for over two decades
- New York State: roughly 9th - 11th largest
However, when doing other searches, one finds, unstated, but probably nominal:
- Japan's GPD over the past five years:
- 2019: $5.18T
- 2020: $5.056T
- 2021: $5.035T
- 2022: $4.26T
- 2023: $4.21T
- 2024 (projection): $4.20T
California's nominal GDP over the past five years:
- 2020: $3.077T
- 2021: $3.424T
- 2022: $3.660T
- 2023: $3.879T
- 2024 $4.104T -- this leap in 2024 resulted in California overtaking Japan to become the 4th-largest economy in the world.
California's real GDP over the past five years:, unstated, but looks like real GDP:
- 2020: $2.933T
- 2021: $3.154T
- 2022: $3.184T
- 2023: $3.249T
- 2024: $3.365T -- strong 2024 increase, a significant 3.5% jump brought California's GDP to its highest level to date
Comments:
- real GDP measures true expansion in production, not just price increases
- for 2024, the 3.6% GDP growh highlights genuine economic resilience --impressive to the largest US state ecoomy
Original Post
Lots of stuff being written. Lots of questions so I am only going to post the links for now. I can't find the story in The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal yet. Which suggests their 20-something journalists are trying to get the "full story" and then spin it to meet their editors' approval(s).
I'm always careful when I see headlines in the New York Post.
The best source? A chatbot. I use ChatGPT.
Lynsi Snyder has really done her homework.
To a reader who alerted me to this development, I wrote (among much more):
Of the five obvious choices (Utah, Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, or Florida), I would agree that Tennessee is the best choice.
Having said that, I prefer the DFW area. I think Ms Snyder would have preferred the DFW area to the Nashville metropolitan area, but in the big scheme of things, it doesn't matter.
All things being equal (job, school, quality of life) the best way to make this type of decision: listen to local evening news (not the national news, but the network's "local" evening news for one month). Let's say, I'm given the opportunity for the same job, the same quality of schools for the kids, and the same house of my dreams among five different geographic locations, where would I move:
- if the local news is mostly related to crime, probably not one's first choice
- if the local news is mostly related to entertainment, the geographic location probably moves to the top slot; but, most important:
- the daily weather report in January and in August.
The center of Franklin, TN, is 30 minutes south of Vanderbilt University on the south side of Nashville.
Prompt for ChatGPT:
What can you tell me about Franklin, Tennessee, with regard to how fast it is growing and whether is is considered the place to move to if moving to the Nashville, Tennessee, area?
