Chart Porn » Finance

2012 Global Risk Map

Dustin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:43:58 +0000

The World Economic Forum always has some interesting visualizations and info-videos.

Global Risk Map:

Interactive Risk Explorer (be sure to play with the menu tabs on the right):

European Response to Crisis

Dustin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:59:00 +0000

Almost makes it look like they’ve done a lot:

Living in a QE World

Dustin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:09:00 +0000

Another problem brewing. The world is running out of places to kick the credit can. As usual, there is much insight to be gained from the discussion and comments over at Barry Ritholtz’s The Big Picture.

Update: Economic Indicators Dashboard

Dustin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:01:00 +0000

Updated for January: one of my favorite economic dashboards. It highlights major macro indicators, what direction they are trending, what the typical ranges are, and lets you drill down to explanations of why you should care. In other words, it’s a very sleek example of how to graph snapshot data while still providing valuable context.

Financial Crises (1810-2010)

Dustin — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:26:37 +0000

A new graphic from HistoryShots, based on Reinhart & Rogoff’s well researched book: This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly. The top half of the chart maps financial crises in terms of GDP affected, while the bottom indicates number of sovereign defaults.

I just ordered a copy. If you’re into this long-term economic history stuff, check out US Booms and Busts (1775-1943).

Charting the Euro Zone Crisis

Dustin — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 15:04:17 +0000

A series of excellent annotated charts on the main indicators of the European crisis.

Interest Rates (1831-2011)

Dustin — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 19:57:00 +0000

An interesting long term perspective.

Economists’ Favorite Charts of 2011

Dustin — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 17:20:42 +0000

These 11 charts appeared on BBC, so they are very Euro-centric, but there are still some gems. My favorite:

For a long time the perception was that the creation of the euro meant sovereign risk was effectively the same across all countries. That of course proved to be wrong. The Lehman’s crisis and financial meltdown that followed affected the deficits and debt levels of different countries in different ways. Interestingly it is much the same countries now with very high yields as it was pre-euro, suggesting little has changed fundamentally in a decade.

Greek Crisis Videographics

Dustin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:27:55 +0000

This jumps around a little too much for my taste – but it is a good example of using simple facts to put things in perspective.

Here’s a slightly more in depth, much more tongue-in-cheek version (from two years ago):

Finally, an even more tongue in cheek SNL skit about which god is in charge of Greek finance:

Economic Indicators Dashboard

Dustin — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 01:06:00 +0000

Updated for November: one of my favorite economic dashboards. It highlights major macro indicators, what direction they are trending, and what the typical ranges are. It also lets you drill down to explanations of why you should care, and historical values.

Eurozone Debt Crisis Dashboard

Dustin — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:06:20 +0000

Some very well organized statistics on the Eurozone debt crisis, aggregated from the IMF, OECD, Eurostat, and the World Bank. It includes data on EFSF commitments, debt, SGP criteria, employment, trade, pensions, and mortgages. There are multiple dashboards, each with multiple tabs – so take the time to explore a bit. I particularly like the little sparklines – which I think do a great job of quickly illustrating trends, and don’t get used often enough.

Guide to the Euro Crisis

Dustin — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:54:46 +0000

A well annotated graphic from the NYT. Over at Visual Journalism, they point out the design differences between the print and online versions of this graphic.

online version:

10 Essential Fiscal Charts

Dustin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:10:16 +0000

10 beautiful charts from the Pew Charitable Trusts’ Fiscal Analysis Initiative, examining the United States Debt and the challenges facing Congress’ Super Committee.

What Wall Street Protesters are Angry About – in Charts

Dustin — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:23:21 +0000

A series of 30+ charts on unemployment, wages, corporate profits, income inequality, debt, taxes, and bailouts from the Business Insider. It’s actually quite an accurate compendium, and the narrative annotation spices up what are otherwise pretty dry charts from the St. Louis Fed (note: if you’ve never used the FRED data/graphing system, you should really go play with it – they even have an APP now). I particularly like the sequence where they illustrate that banks are borrowing money from the FED at basically zero interest rates, and using it to buy treasuries. Hilarious.

US State Budget Gaps

Dustin — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 18:31:47 +0000

What is shocking to me is that there are 12 states with no shortfall.

Note: Some Financial Times features require a subscription.