The historic and ongoing drought in California is getting harder to ignore in terms of its potential impact on the US economy down the road. The Golden State, after all, boasts the country’s largest GDP among the 50 states, representing a bit more than 13% of US output, based on 2013 data via the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. That’s well above the nearly 9% share for Texas, the second-biggest state economy. But as the dry spell persists, now in its fourth year, it’s reasonable to wonder if California’s growth prospects will suffer. In turn, if the biggest state wilts due to drought, what are the implications for the US?
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