alt-tag.com » Economics

Data visualization and unemployment

Tom — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:51:45 +0000

I’m fascinated by data visualization. Expressing complex ideas in a simple way is immensely powerful. In my post yesterday, I linked to a
county-by-county time lapse of unemployment rates. I’ve found some interesting images (complete with a thorough explanation) examining the U.S. economy. The article is interesting, but the images, if you’ll pardon the cliché, really are worth a thousand words. A sample of images is included below–visit the full article for more.

Mass-layoff events for 2008-2009:

Percentage of workforce employed in manufacturing (2006):

Unemployment (2008):

A while ago, I asked how government would change if budgets were presented visually. In a similar vein, how would education change if achievement data were also presented visually? Would our decisions change? Why?

All images the article by George Maasry, “US Unemployment in 2009—More Job Losses in Production”, UUorld.com, 2009-03-09.

Unemployment map

Tom — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 16:01:25 +0000

Daring Fireball pointed to this county-by-county time lapse of unemployment rates. Fascinating. It explains some of the differences I’ve observed in the move from Utah to Georgia.

A few things to notice:

Because each frame is a 12-month running average, the map doesn’t show whether some counties have started to pull out of high unemployment.
Michigan and Oregon were hurting before the bust really got started.
What makes the Rocky Mountain states (the swath starting at Montana and the Dakotas and moving South) have lower unemployment from start to finish?

An economist on education

Tom — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:49:08 +0000

I caught on TV tonight an education policy presentation by Julian Betts, Chair of the Department of Economics. Originally presented in April of this year, Dr. Betts discusses peer-reviewed research on testing, accountability systems, charter schools, vouchers, and merit pay systems.

No matter where you fall on these issues, I think it’s worth watching.

On Bailouts

Tom — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 00:28:12 +0000

(Apologies for the language.)

FYI: a $24 B bailout spread across 218 M adults (2003) is about $110 per person, not including the cost of paying back interest on the change in national debt.

If someone knows the original source of this, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

Let GM go bankrupt

Tom — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:34:14 +0000

Via daringfireball.net: Philip Greenspun: ‘Let G.M. Go Bankrupt’

America seems to have an irrational soft spot for its auto industry. It’s a shame that these once-great companies have fallen so far, but the simple truth is that Ford and G.M. make ugly, inefficient cars that few people want to buy.John Gruber, daringfireball.net, 8 Nov 2008