[lbo-talk] Can Marijuana Help Rescue California's Economy?

[Politicus E.]

I apologize for commenting in a tardy fashion to this conversation, but I'd
make the following point.  The Time magazine article claims that the plant
is "California's biggest cash crop, responsible for $14 billion a year in
sales."  Let us assume that this estimate is for 2007.  In 2007, the GDP for
the state of California was roughly $1.8 trillion in nominal terms.
In<http://www.bea.gov/regional/definitions/nextpage.cfm?key=Agriculture,%20forestry,%20fishing,%20and%20hunting>agriculture,
forestry, fishing, and hunting, its GDP was about $28 billions (again, in
nominal terms for 2007).

On its face, it seems somewhat implausible that an expansion in the
production of pot is going to put much of a dent in California's demand
gap.  It may sustain the level of employment in the agricultural sector to
what it was at the peak of the previous business cycle, however.

ep