Tag: economics

  • Explaining What is Going on in Ukraine

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    Brendan Barry
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    Not “the Ukraine” as it is (admittedly) fun to do in pop-culture references to Seinfeld. This comes from the Washington Post and the article tries to show that the protests in Kiev are not necessarily a vast majority against the government. Certainly the opposition is strong, but there is also a very strong pro-government movement.…

  • Racing for Revenue

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    Brendan Barry
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    As the Winter Olympics continue, the Economist looks at a different kind of race. The race between companies reaching a certain amount of revenue—along with the net profit from said revenue. How long does it take a company to reach $1 million in revenue? When all companies have reached the same amount of revenue, what…

  • Living on the Minimum Wage

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    Brendan Barry
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    Last week the New York Times published a nice interactive about the minimum wage and just how difficult it is to live on it. (We will for now spare the charts that show how the actual purchasing power has declined over the years.) First you pick your state because not every state pays the same…

  • Mapping Economic Mobility

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    Brendan Barry
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    This piece from the Washington Post examines the idea of economic mobility. That is, what is the likelihood that children born and raised in an impoverished family will surpass their parents’ standard of living. Credit for the piece goes to Darla Cameron and Ted Mellnik.

  • Smart Banking Cards

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    As I noted in my Friday post, I spent last week in Lithuania for work. That same Friday night, I had a conversation with a few coworkers over dinner and a beer about credit cards. They teased me that for all of America’s technological advances and advantages, even in Lithuania they were using more secure…

  • Wealth and Education

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    Today’s post looks at education across a set of 65 countries from a standardised test backed by the OECD, basically a group of wealthy countries. The test results found that some poor countries have surprisingly good education systems whereas some of the world’s wealthiest countries—here’s looking at you, United States—perform poorly. The Huffington Post created…

  • Ivory Poaching

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    Brendan Barry
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    The South China Morning Post had a fantastic infographic detailing the hunting of elephants for their ivory. Despite bans to make such hunting illegal, the problem continues and is worsening because of the Asian trade in ivory. Credit for the piece goes to Adolfo Arranz.

  • Deformed Tree Map

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    Yesterday the BBC published an article about the success of the United Kingdom’s creative industry especially given the not-so-successful economy of the last few years. Unfortunately, the article included the tree map below. The problems are a few. First, a tree map is usually looking at two variables. One is encoded through the size of…

  • Holiday Tidings…of War

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    I’ve been away for over two weeks on holiday. So to spread good cheer to all, today I am sharing an image from a series of maps the BBC put together to try and explain the civil war in South Sudan. Credit for the piece goes to BBC graphics department.

  • The Long and Winding Cotton Production Path

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    Brendan Barry
    in

    Today’s piece is straightforward, but I felt very good at detailing its story. The Wall Street Journal mapped out the path cotton takes on its way from the fields to the denim in your jeans. Credit for the piece goes to the Wall Street Journal graphics department.