Today’s infographic from The Green Organic Dutchman takes a deep dive into the cannabis components which contribute to its therapeutic potential, how it interacts with the human body, and the ways it can be consumed. The Chemical Effects of Cannabis While many people would be familiar with THC and CBD as the two major cannabinoids, there are a few lesser-known cannabinoids which also play important roles: Cannabichromene (CBC), Cannabigerol (CBG), Cannabinol (CBN), Tetrahydrocannbivarin (THCv), and Tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCa)....

From the sweetener in our coffees to the ethanol that powers our vehicles, corn has hundreds of uses. Consequently, high corn prices have a domino effect that can affect many supply chains and possibly even increase the cost of our weekly groceries, especially if they include tortilla chips. This infographic uses data from the National Corn Growers Association to break down U.S. corn use by segment in 2020, and the products that a bushel of corn can produce....

However, as UBS notes in its latest report, there is also growing concern about another prominent bubble that’s been in the works since the aftermath of the financial crisis. Large amounts of easy money have fueled real estate bubbles in the world’s major cities – and the Swiss investment bank now sees the property markets in six global cities as being at risk. The Bubble Index In the 2018 edition of the bank’s Real Estate Bubble Index, here are the major cities around the globe that are in or near bubble territory:...

The price you pay for groceries, dinner at the restaurant, filling up your tank, or even your daily coffee goes up substantially. With high-paying jobs, booming economies, limited space, and soaring levels of density, cities can be expensive. Dollar Disparity While this effect on costs is most evident in cities, it’s actually present throughout the country. What you can buy for your paycheck varies wildly depending on where you are, greatly impacting purchasing power and the cost of living....

In this chart, we visualize the world’s GDP using data from the IMF, showcasing the biggest economies and the share of global economic activity that they make up. The GDP Heavyweights The global economy can be thought of as a pie, with the size of each slice representing the share of global GDP contributed by each country. Currently, the largest slices of the pie are held by the United States, China, Japan, Germany, and India, which together account for more than half of global GDP....

In this graphic, we use data from the U.S. National Archives and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab to show U.S. presidential voting history by state since 1976. Note: this post has been updated on January 19, 2021 to reflect the latest data. Each State’s Winning Party To calculate the winning ratio, we divided the votes for the state’s winning party by the total number of state votes. Here’s another look at the same data, visualized in a different way....

The tallest buildings require vast amounts of materials, expertise, and capital to make them a reality, but the cities that add these landmarks to their skylines gain prestige and send a powerful message to competing economic centers. Skyscraper Construction in 2018 Where are the most skyscrapers popping up? Let’s take a look at regional hot-spots around the world. Note: For the purposes of this article, “skyscraper” will refer to buildings 656 feet (200 meters) or more in height....

A common metric for measuring the performance of these machines is flops, or floating point operations per second. In this visualization, we’ve used November 2021 data from TOP500 to visualize the computing power of the world’s top five supercomputers. For added context, a number of modern consumer devices were included in the comparison. Ranking by Teraflops Because supercomputers can achieve over one quadrillion flops, and consumer devices are much less powerful, we’ve used teraflops as our comparison metric....

Trade accounts for roughly 60% of global GDP—and emerging markets, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, have trade to thank in part for their economic growth in recent times. When it comes to the movement of all these goods, shipping hubs are a crucial component of the trade ecosystem. The following data looks at the 10 largest global shipping hubs and their changes in throughput over time. The 10 Largest Shipping Hubs (2005-2019, Thousands of TEUs) One of the biggest changes in recent years is the addition of the Yangshan Port in Shanghai....

For example, someone with a net worth of $1 million several decades ago would have been considered very wealthy. According to recent survey results, however, $1 million is only enough to feel “financially comfortable” today. In this infographic, we’ve visualized several money milestones to give you a better idea of what it really takes to be wealthy in America. Net Worth Milestones This table lists the data used in the above infographic....

But did you know there’s a way to get even more out of Visual Capitalist, all while helping support the work we do? New to VC+ in August 2021 VC+ is our members program that gives you exclusive access to extra visual content and insightful special features. It also gets you access to The Trendline, our new members-only graphic newsletter. So, what is getting sent to VC+ members in the coming weeks?...

From agrarian economy to global superpower in half a century—China’s transformation has been an economic success story unlike any other. Today, China is the world’s second largest economy, making up 16% of $86 trillion global GDP in nominal terms. If you adjust numbers for purchasing power parity (PPP), the Chinese economy has already been the world’s largest since 2014. The upward trajectory over the last 70 years has been filled with watershed moments, strategic directives, and shocking tragedies — and all of this can be traced back to the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) on October 1st, 1949....

Intangible assets currently account for 90% of the index’s total assets. Not only is this a historical high—it’s a nod to just how prevalent technology has become in our lives. Intangible assets are holdings that don’t carry any physical or financial embodiment. This includes R&D, intellectual property, and computerized information such as data and software. While they’re often difficult to value due to certain accounting practices, today, intangibles are worth over $21 trillion....

Yet, the higher and further women get in their careers, it’s clear that barriers still remain. Today’s interactive timeline comes to us from Alex Architektonidis of BoardEx, and it tracks all the women chief executive officers (CEOs) of companies listed in the S&P 500 index since the turn of the century. The kicker? Across the 500 large-cap companies in the index, only 70 women have ever held the position of CEO or similar titles—and only 28 women currently have this status....

Tobacco company Marlboro is still one of the top 15 global brands with a value of $22 billion, while companies like Nokia and AT&T also help to round out the group. Aside from Microsoft, the tech companies at the time were mostly focused on hardware and services. HP was considered a top global brand at the time, and even IBM was still making PCs until the year 2005. The Platform Revolution How times have changed....

But despite COVID-19 being the latest iteration in these deadly infectious diseases to strike, we are experiencing it in a very different public health context than past pandemics throughout history. A New Era of Medicine Since the onset of the 1918 influenza pandemic, humans have seen a monumental and undeniable leap forward in the health sciences. Advancements in everything from sanitation to pharmacology have spread globally, resulting in a health landscape that is almost unrecognizable from those during past disease outbreaks....

But, if you’re still skeptical of this new economic paradigm, today’s animation shows it all in the simplest terms possible. With one axis, each country’s percentage share of the world population is shown. Meanwhile, the other axis shows GDP per capita, roughly equivalent to the income of each citizen in that country. Multiplied by one another, or the area of the colored rectangles below, is the relative size of a country’s GDP over time....

For each of the last four years, the cryptocurrency has either been the best or the worst performing currency – with nothing to be found in between. Luckily, for those that follow the digital currency closely, those fluctuations were mostly pointed in an upwards direction for 2016. The currency finished the year at $968.23, which is more than double its value from the beginning of the year. Were any other global currencies able to compete with bitcoin’s strong performance throughout the year?...

Bubble in Higher Education: When Will It Pop? The Chart of the Week is a weekly feature in Visual Capitalist on Fridays. The soaring bull market in higher education has been flying high for some time. Many factors combined to make it the perfect storm: the demographic rise of the millennials, easy money from the Fed, the “Chivas Regal” effect in pricing strategy that many colleges and universities adopted, and the US government virtually taking over the market for student loans....

Can Europe Survive Without Russian Gas? Tensions rise in Eastern Europe, as the western world hits Russia with new sanctions. Late last month, President Obama and the European Union imposed sanctions in hopes of deterring President Putin from further aggression and putting an end to his support of Ukrainian separatists. The aim of previous sanctions was to focus on specific individuals and businesses, while the newest ones are aimed at major pillars of the Russian economy....