Originally posted by beet1e 
 funny how two of those "third world" countries just happen to be amongst the four largest economies in the world. 
 
 I thought you did not want to bash France anymore...
Yet you didn't say,  "
Three of those "third world" countries just happen to be amongst the 
five largest economies in the world."  Why did you leave out France?
In US$ Billions as of 2003:
1---USA -----------10,208 
2---Japan------------4,149 
3---Germany---------1,847 
4---U Kingdom--------1,424 
5---France-----------1,307 
6---China------------1,159 
7---Italy-------------1,089 
8---Canada-----------700 
9---Mexico------------618 
10--Spain-------------582
Interesting trivia: California's economy is about the same size as France's.