U.S. states in perspective

I just came across an interesting post by Mark Perry at Carpe Diem.  He presents a table that ranks the per capita incomes of U.S. states and the richest countries in the world for 2010.  Highlights include:

• Average income in the poorest state, Mississippi, was about the same as in the European Union as a whole.
• Only Norway and Luxembourg would rank among the top half of U.S. states.
• The United Kingdom, Finland, France, and Japan were ranked between South Carolina and West Virginia, our second and third poorest states.
• Canada, our friendly northern neighbor, was ranked just below the 40th richest state, New Mexico.