ABSTRACT
The California scenario has to be embedded in a plausible national context, and that, in a plausible global context. California is the world's ninth-largest economy and by many measures one of the most prosperous. California's path of development depends on the willingness and ability of that outside world to buy its products and to sell to it the essential resources its economy requires. The communications revolution brings California closer to every trouble spot on the globe and further strengthens the perception of hunger, violence, and inequity, wherever they occur. Population growth helps determine the level and mix of immigration to California and the status of California's markets for imports and exports. Continued world population growth clearly means more demand for California's agricultural output. California already exports most of its rice and much of its cotton to Asian nations. California imports over a third of its energy from abroad, and foreign imports are the fastest-growing source of fuels.
