This Map Compares the Size of State Economies with Entire Countries
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This Map Compares the Size of State Economies with Entire Countries

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This Map Compares the Size of State Economies with Entire Countries

This Map Compares the Size of State Economies with Entire Countries

The United States is the world’s largest economy, but sometimes it’s easy to forget just how massive a $19 trillion economy actually is.

The only comparable economy in size would be China, but unfortunately the incredible scope of China’s economic boom is something that is also difficult for foreigners to wrap their heads around. We’ve tried to do this in the past by showing you the massive cities that no one knows about, ambitious megaprojects that are underway in the region, and the country’s staggering demand for commodities.

But still, comparing the U.S. to China can be overwhelming – and that’s why it can be more effective to show the U.S. economy as the sum of its parts.

States as Countries

Today’s infographic comes to us from the Carpe Diem blog done by Mark Perry at the American Enterprise Institute.

It matches the size of U.S. state economies, based on nominal GDP numbers, with comparable countries around the world. For example, the state of Texas ($1.7 trillion) is roughly the equivalent of Canada ($1.65 trillion), while Maine ($61.4 billion) is closer to Panama ($61.8 billion) in terms of economic output.

Here’s the full table – courtesy of Carpe Diem – on how each state breaks down:

U.S. States compared to countries

Sum of the Parts

By looking at the United States in this unique way, we really get a better sense of the scale of the country’s economy as a whole.

Add together just the states of California, Texas, and New York, and you’ve got an economy the size of the United Kingdom, Canada, and South Korea put together. And with each additional state, you’re adding significant economies like Indonesia, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, or Singapore to that mix.

Impressively, even the more sparsely populated states have country-sized economies. Montana compares to Uzbekistan, North Dakota is similar to Croatia, and so on.

If you’re interested in seeing other ways to visualize America’s economy, see a previous post using some other Carpe Diem maps here.

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All of the World’s Money and Markets in One Visualization (2022)

From the wealth held to billionaires to all debt in the global financial system, we look at the vast universe of money and markets in 2022.

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All of the World’s Money and Markets in One Visualization

The era of easy money is now officially over.

For 15 years, policymakers have tried to stimulate the global economy through money creation, zero interest-rate policies, and more recently, aggressive COVID fiscal stimulus.

With capital at near-zero costs over this stretch, investors started to place more value on cash flows in the distant future. Assets inflated and balance sheets expanded, and money inevitably chased more speculative assets like NFTs, crypto, or unproven venture-backed startups.

But the free money party has since ended, after persistent inflation prompted the sudden reversal of many of these policies. And as Warren Buffett says, it’s only when the tide goes out do you get to see “who’s been swimming naked.”

Measuring Money and Markets in 2022

Every time we publish this visualization, our common unit of measurement is a two-dimensional box with a value of $100 billion.

Even though you need many of these to convey the assets on the balance sheet of the U.S. Federal Reserve, or the private wealth held by the world’s billionaires, it’s quite amazing to think what actually fits within this tiny building block of measurement:

What fits in a $100 billion box?

Our little unit of measurement is enough to pay for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, while also buying every team in the NHL and digging FTX out of its financial hole several times over.

Here’s an overview of all the items we have listed in this year’s visualization:

Asset categoryValueSourceNotes
SBF (Peak Net Worth)$26 billionBloombergNow sits at <$1B
Pro Sports Teams$340 billionForbesMajor pro teams in North America
Cryptocurrency$760 billionCoinMarketCapPeaked at $2.8T in 2021
Ukraine GDP$130 billionWorld BankComparable to GDP of Mississippi
Russia GDP$1.8 trillionWorld BankThe world's 11th largest economy
Annual Military Spending$2.1 trillionSIPRI2021 data
Physical currency$8.0 trillionBIS2020 data
Gold$11.5 trillionWorld Gold CouncilThere are 205,238 tonnes of gold in existence
Billionaires$12.7 trillionForbesSum of fortunes of all 2,668 billionaires
Central Bank Assets$28.0 trillionTrading EconomicsFed, BoJ, Bank of China, and Eurozone only
S&P 500$36.0 trillionSlickchartsNov 20, 2022
China GDP$17.7 trillionWorld Bank
U.S. GDP$23.0 trillionWorld Bank
Narrow Money Supply$49.0 trillionTrading EconomicsIncludes US, China, Euro Area, Japan only
Broad Money Supply $82.7 trillionTrading EconomicsIncludes US, China, Euro Area, Japan only
Global Equities$95.9 trillionWFELatest available 2022 data
Global Debt$300.1 trillionIIFQ2 2022
Global Real Estate$326.5 trillionSavills2020 data
Global Private Wealth$463.6 trillionCredit Suisse2022 report
Derivatives (Market)$12.4 trillionBIS
Derivatives (Notional)$600 trillionBIS

Has the Dust Settled Yet?

Through previous editions of our All the World’s Money and Markets visualization, we’ve created snapshots of the world’s assets and markets at different points in time.

For example, in our 2017 edition of this visualization, Apple’s market capitalization was only $807 billion, and all crypto assets combined for $173 billion. The global debt total was at $215 trillion.

Asset2017 edition2022 editionChange (%)
Apple market cap$807 billion$2.3 trillion+185%
Crypto$173 billion$760 billion+339%
Fed Balance Sheet$4.5 trillion$8.7 trillion+93%
Stock Markets$73 trillion$95.9 trillion+31%
Global Debt$215 trillion$300 trillion+40%

And in just five years, Apple nearly quadrupled in size (it peaked at $3 trillion in January 2022), and crypto also expanded into a multi-trillion dollar market until it was brought back to Earth through the 2022 crash and subsequent FTX implosion.

Meanwhile, global debt continues to accumulateโ€”growing by $85 trillion in the five-year period.

With interest rates expected to continue to rise, companies making cost cuts, and policymakers reining in spending and borrowing, today is another unique snapshot in time.

Now that the easy money era is over, where do things go from here?

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Ranked: The Worldโ€™s 100 Biggest Pension Funds

The worldโ€™s 100 largest pension funds are worth over $17 trillion in total. Which ones are the biggest, and where are they located?

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A preview image of some of the largest pension funds in the world. The Government Pension Investment Fund in Japan is the biggest at $1.7 trillion in assets.

Ranked: The Worldโ€™s 100 Biggest Pension Funds

View the high-resolution of the infographic by clicking here.

Despite economic uncertainty, pension funds saw relatively strong growth in 2021. The worldโ€™s 100 biggest pension funds are worth over $17 trillion in total, an increase of 8.5% over the previous year.

This graphic uses data from the Thinking Ahead Institute to rank the worldโ€™s biggest pension funds, and where they are located.

What is a Pension Fund?

A pension fund is a fund that is designed to provide retirement income. This ranking covers four different types:

  • Sovereign funds: Funds controlled directly by the state. This ranking only includes sovereign funds that are established by national authorities.
  • Public sector funds: Funds that cover public sector workers, such as government employees and teachers, in provincial or state sponsored plans.
  • Private independent funds: Funds controlled by private sector organizations that are authorized to manage pension plans from different employers.
  • Corporate funds: Funds that cover workers in company sponsored pension plans.

Among the largest funds, public sector funds are the most common.

The Largest Pension Funds, Ranked

Here are the top 100 pension funds, organized from largest to smallest.

RankFundMarketTotal Assets
1Government Pension Investment Fund๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan$1.7T
2Government Pension Fund๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Norway$1.4T
3National Pension๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ท South Korea$798.0B
4Federal Retirement Thrift๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$774.2B
5ABP๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands$630.4B
6California Public Employees๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$496.8B
7Canada Pension๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$426.7B
8National Social Security๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ China$406.8B
9Central Provident Fund๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฌ Singapore$375.0B
10PFZW๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands$315.5B
11California State Teachers๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$313.9B
12New York State Common๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$267.8B
13New York City Retirement๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$266.7B
14Local Government Officials๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan$248.6B
15Employees Provident Fund๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ Malaysia$242.6B
16Florida State Board๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$213.8B
17Texas Teachers๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$196.7B
18Ontario Teachers๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$191.1B
19National Wealth Fund๐Ÿ‡ท๐Ÿ‡บ Russia$180.7B
20AustralianSuper๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia$169.1B
21Labor Pension Fund๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Taiwan$168.9B
22Washington State Board๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$161.5B
23Public Institute for Social Security๐Ÿ‡ฐ๐Ÿ‡ผ Kuwait$160.0B
24ATP๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark$155.4B
25Wisconsin Investment Board๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$147.9B
26Future Fund๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia$147.9B
27Boeing๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$147.2B
28Employees' Provident๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India$145.0B
29New York State Teachers๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$144.4B
30North Carolina๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$137.1B
31Alecta๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden$136.7B
32GEPF๐Ÿ‡ฟ๐Ÿ‡ฆ South Africa$129.1B
33California University๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$125.3B
34Bayerische Versorgungskammer๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ช Germany$122.0B
35Ohio Public Employees๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$121.6B
36AT&T๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$119.5B
37Public Service Pension Plan๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$117.9B
38National Federation of Mutual Aid๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan$117.1B
39Metaal/tech. Bedrijven๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands$115.8B
40IBM๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$115.4B
41Universities Superannuation๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK$111.2B
42Virginia Retirement๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$110.0B
43Pension Fund Association๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan$109.8B
44Raytheon Technologies๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$108.9B
45Michigan Retirement๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$108.0B
46Aware Super๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia$107.5B
47New Jersey๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$104.5B
48Minnesota State Board๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$102.9B
49PFA Pension๐Ÿ‡ฉ๐Ÿ‡ฐ Denmark$102.7B
50Kaiser๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$101.0B
51Georgia Teachers๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$100.9B
52Oregon Public Employees๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$100.4B
53Massachusetts PRIM๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$98.5B
54Qsuper๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia$96.5B
55General Motors๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$96.1B
56Ontario Municipal Employees๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$95.7B
57Ohio State Teachers๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$95.1B
58AP Fonden 7๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden$94.4B
59Healthcare of Ontario๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$90.5B
60General Electric๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$90.5B
61Employees' Pension Fund๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ India$89.5B
62Bouwnijverheid๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands$88.5B
63UPS๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$86.8B
64United Nations Joint Staff๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$86.2B
65Lockheed Martin๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$85.7B
66Quebec Pension๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$81.4B
67National Public Service๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan$79.9B
68Tennessee Consolidated๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$79.0B
69Royal Bank of Scotland Group๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK$78.3B
70Bank of America๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$76.3B
71BT Group๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK$74.3B
72Keva๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland$73.3B
73Ford๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$72.8B
74PME๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Netherlands$72.7B
75Los Angeles County Employees๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$72.7B
76Quebec Government & Public๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$72.4B
77UniSuper๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia$72.1B
78Northrop Grumman๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$72.0B
79Pennsylvania School Employees๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$70.4B
80Lloyds Banking Group๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK$69.7B
81Ilmarinen๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland$69.1B
82Colorado Employees๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$68.6B
83Maryland State Retirement๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$68.5B
84AMF Pension๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden$67.3B
85Varma๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ Finland$67.1B
86Wells Fargo๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$66.0B
87Sunsuper๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Australia$66.0B
88Verizon๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$64.1B
89Illinois Teachers๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$64.0B
90J.P. Morgan Chase๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$62.8B
91Electricity Supply Pension๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง UK$62.5B
92FedEx๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$60.7B
93Nevada Public Employees๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$58.8B
94B.C. Municipal๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Canada$58.7B
95AP Fonden 4๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden$57.7B
96Missouri Schools & Education๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$57.0B
97AP Fonden 3๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Sweden$55.9B
98Social Insurance Funds๐Ÿ‡ป๐Ÿ‡ณ Vietnam$55.7B
99Organization for Workers๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japan$55.6B
100Illinois Municipal๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ U.S.$54.9B

U.S. fund data are as of Sep. 30, 2021, and non-U.S. fund data are as of Dec. 31, 2021. There are some exceptions as noted in the graphic footnotes.

Japanโ€™s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF) is the largest in the ranking for the 21st year in a row. For a time, the fund was the largest holder of domestic stocks in Japan, though the Bank of Japan has since taken that title. Given its enormous size, investors closely follow the GPIFโ€™s actions. For instance, the fund made headlines for deciding to start investing in startups, because the move could entice other pensions to make similar investments.

America is home to 47 funds on the list, including the largest public sector fund: the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), overseen by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board. Because of its large financial influence, both political parties have been accused of using it as a political tool. Democrats have pushed to divest assets in fossil fuel companies, while Republicans have proposed blocking investment in Chinese-owned companies.

Russiaโ€™s National Wealth Fund comes in at number 19 on the list. The fund is designed to support the public pension system and help balance the budget as needed. With Russiaโ€™s economy facing difficulties amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the government has also used it as a rainy day fund. For instance, Russia has set aside $23 billion from the fund to replace foreign aircraft with domestic models, because Western sanctions have made it difficult to source replacement parts for foreign planes.

The Future of Pension Funds

The biggest pension funds can have a large influence in the market because of their size. Of course, they are also responsible for providing retirement income to millions of people. Pension funds face a variety of challenges in order to reach their goals:

  • Geopolitical conflict creates volatility and uncertainty
  • High inflation and low interest rates (relative to long-term averages) limit return potential
  • Aging populations mean more withdrawals and less fund contributions

Some pension funds are turning to alternative assets, such as private equity, in pursuit of more diversification and higher returns. Of course, these investments can also carry more risk.

Ontario Teachersโ€™ Pension Plan, number 18 on the list, invested $95 million in the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The plan made the investment through its venture growth platform, to โ€œgain small-scale exposure to an emerging area in the financial technology sector.โ€

In this case, the investmentโ€™s failure is expected to have a minimal impact given it only made up 0.05% of the planโ€™s net assets. However, it does highlight the challenges pension funds face to generate sufficient returns in a variety of macroeconomic environments.

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