What next from Europe? Will the bailouts work or will the bond market eventually call "uncle"?
I am not in the business of opining on those questions. But I am interested in seeing both how it unfolds and how it is analyzed. So the following chart from Chart of the Day from Business Insider is interesting for a couple of reasons:
Firstly, its a good graphic for analyzing the export flows between the four major trading regions of the world. Its a great analytics example because the data has been pulled from many different sources and arranged in a way which allows it to be understood.
Secondly, it lets you make 'what if' arguments about changes in these flows to develop scenarios for what might happen.
In a world where we are bombarded by data from single sources and not framed and contexted with other data, this is a good example of the sort of frameworks for data display we need to help us make sense of it all. The Chart of the Day article argues that it supports a certain conclusion. Without agreeing or disagreeing with them, the point I want to make is that this display can allow for the sort of insightful debate that could have pundits with different views understand their different assumptions and deepen understanding of a complex situation. Good stuff in so many situations!
Bathtime question:
Where could I be integrating data and presenting it in ways that are povocative and help drive debate and understanding?
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