Could California Export Our Empty Houses?

California's economy is a basket case. The state has the second highest unemployment rate in the country, after its neighbor Nevada. One economist called California a "post-industrial hell" this week.

But look at the picture and there is good news obscured by the bad. The state has shown growth among economic sectors — virtually everything except government and housing/construction, which have been decimated.

The latest good news is a 17 percent boost in California's exports in August — compared to August of 2010. The latest figures show California is back to the level of exports it had before the recession.

It's enough to make you wish we could somehow export overseas all the California homes that aren't selling — the ones that are our drag on the housing market, the construction sector, and thus the economy — overseas.

If only shipping homes was easy as shipping iPads.

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