Source: Economist - Chart Porn

Source: Economist Archive:

Corruption and Development

In: Culture Global Economy Source: Economist

5 Dec 2011

Graphing the Corruption Perceptions Index vs the Human Development Index shows a pretty clear correlation. Of course, “perception” indices are always of dubious value.

(1) Comment

Shoe Throwing Index

In: Interactive Politics Source: Economist

24 Oct 2011

This is a strange little tool: an interactive index to middle east unrest.

Move the sliders to ascribe different weightings to the various indicators that may influence instability (since the values shown are rounded, they may not always add up to exactly 100). Lock individual sliders by clicking the checkboxes. Roll over the chart to see indicators for each country.

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What’s in a Tweet

In: Internet/tech Source: Economist Source: Ritholtz

3 Oct 2011

Even though the “content limit” is only 140 characters, each tweet actually contains a crazy amount of meta-data. (related Economist article; via The Big Picture)

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US Military Spending

In: Politics Source: Economist US Economy

10 Jun 2011

America’s military spending is larger than the next 17 countries combined.

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Child Brides

In: Culture Source: Economist

28 Feb 2011

In some parts of the world, marrying young is commonplace. I couldn’t find the exact comparison for the United States, but the median age when married is 26 (2009). Wikipedia lists data for additional countries, if you’re interested.

(3) Comments

Economist: Top 20 Charts of 2010

In: Global Economy Graphic Design (general) Interactive Source: Economist

3 Jan 2011

Interactive tree map of the top 20 charts viewed on the Economist’s website.

(1) Comment

Seven Billion People

In: Culture History Science Source: Economist

22 Dec 2010

The Economist produced this video explaining population trends using a series of well designed radial diagrams, including the birth of the 7th billion living person, expected in 2011. The surprising part: after ridiculous growth in the past century, things are starting to slow down.

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Israeli Settlements (1990-2010)

In: History Maps Politics Source: Economist Source: WSJ

27 Sep 2010

From the Economist, a graph of public and private settlements. From the BBC, a map of the settlements and a summary of previous peace talks. note: we posted a (slightly better) WSJ settlement map in Feb.

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Tea Party Demographics

In: Politics Source: Economist

16 Sep 2010

Who supports the tea party? (entire poll)

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Bankruptcies Back on the Rise

In: Finance Source: Economist US Economy

19 Aug 2010

Despite the 2005 reforms that made it tougher, bankruptcies are rising steadily.

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History of GDP (1-2008)

In: Global Economy History Source: Economist US Economy

17 Aug 2010

Data compiled by Angus Maddison, an economist who died earlier this year, suggest that China and India were the biggest economies in the world for almost all of the past 2000 years. Why they fell so far behind may be more of a mystery than why they are currently flourishing.

(ps – the comments at the Economist are worth the read)

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Church Attendance and Liars

In: Culture Source: Economist

9 Aug 2010

A simple chart showing the percentage of europeans that never attend religious services. FYI, similar polls put the USA at 40%. But apparently, most people lie about this when asked.

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The Breakfast Index

In: Food Global Economy Source: Economist

5 Aug 2010

Commodity prices are on the rise again. The Economist picked a pretty recent base year for this graph of wheat, orange juice, and coffee prices – a longer trend would have shown the big ups and downs of the past few years.