On a global scale, the U.S. economy is massive at close to $19 trillion in size. However, the United States is also the sum of its parts. America represents the union of 50 states and other jurisdictions such as D.C., and all of these state-level economies have their own unique problems to overcome, drivers of growth, and local resources that factor into their prosperity. How can we compare these state economies on an even playing field?...
With the help of data from Google Trends and their unique Frightgeist series, we visualized the most searched Halloween costumes in the U.S. in 2021. From spooky to sweet, these are the costumes everyone wants to dress up as this Halloween. A Brief History of Halloween Halloween is celebrated each year on October 31, with this year’s Halloween occurring on a Sunday. The tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, where people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts....
Brand value in this context is a measure of the “value of the trade mark and associated marketing IP within the branded business”. In other words, it measures the value of intangible marketing assets, and not the overall worth of the business itself. In this infographic, we’ve visualized the Banking 500’s top 10 brands since 2019 to show you how the ranking has evolved (or stayed the same). Top Bank Brands of 2023 The 10 most valuable bank brands of 2023 are evenly split between China and the United States....
Between a deadly virus, looming economic effects, and numerous government shutdowns, it’s clear that a fertile breeding ground has been created for misinformation, rumors, conspiracy theories, hot takes, and other potentially misleading content. 7 Indispensable COVID-19 Resources At Visual Capitalist, it’s our goal to use data-driven visuals to explain the world around us. In the last week alone, we’ve had more than 10 million people visit our site — many of them trying to understand more about COVID-19 and its effects on the economy and society....
If they’re right, this early stage of smart speaker adoption will have a massive impact on future profits. Switching smartphone brands is relatively straightforward, but switching an entire voice assistant ecosystem? That’s not quite as easy. – Andy Chambers, Vice President of Connected Home, Assurant Today’s infographic is an overview of the rapidly expanding smart speaker market, and how the major players in the space are competing for critical early market share....
All at once, the cloud provides instant access to all of your data, photos, music, and applications, without you having to store any of that data locally. In fact, users can access the cloud from practically anywhere in the world, and across multiple devices and platforms. Yet, this all happens without you actually seeing any visible infrastructure. With data now being created at record speeds, where the heck is all this information being physically stored?...
In this infographic with JMBullion, we highlight key facts and comparisons on some of the world’s most popular mints, including the United States Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint, PAMP Suisse, and Sunshine Minting. Some quick facts on each of the world’s most popular mints: The United States Mint was founded in 1792, and now has minting operations in Philadelphia, Denver, West Point, and San Francisco. The mint produced more than 17 billion coins for circulation in 2015 for the fastest annual pace since 19....
In February, U.S. equity fund flows hit $48 billion, a 70% decline from the year before. In the previous month, U.S. equity fund flows hit their lowest level since the pandemic began. With data from Morningstar, we show how the invasion of Ukraine and a rising rate environment has affected U.S. equity fund flows. Risk-Off Environment In January, investors shed a record $23 billion from large growth funds, the highest level since 2017....
In the late 1990s, for example, the U.S. spent roughly 13% of GDP on healthcare, compared to about a 9.5% average for all high income countries. However, in recent years, the difference has become more stark. Last year, as Obamacare continued to roll out, costs in the U.S. reached an all-time high of 17.5% of GDP. That’s over $3 trillion spent on healthcare annually, and the rate of spending is expected accelerate over the next decade....
Video: How the U.S. Dollar Spread Across the World The U.S. dollar is the world’s dominant reserve currency, making up about 64% of all official foreign exchange reserves. The euro is second on the list. The euro had shown decent promise as a reserve currency up until 2009, when it peaked at 28% of global reserves. However, between the European Debt Crisis and years of anemic growth in major European countries, the currency has declined to 20% of official global reserves today....
As the seasons change, it’s natural to want to enjoy the outdoors to the fullest. The Great Lakes, a distinct geographical region sandwiched between the U.S. and Canada, provides immense opportunity for millions of tourists to do just that every year. But did you know that altogether the Great Lakes contain 21% of the world’s surface freshwater by volume—or 84% of the surface freshwater in North America? This bathymetric visualization, created by Alex Varlamov, helps put the sheer size and depth of all five of the Great Lakes into perspective....
This infographic draws from a report by CBRE to determine which tech talent markets in the U.S. and Canada are the largest. The data looks at total workforce in the sector, as well as the change in tech worker population over time in various cities. The report also classifies which metro areas and regions can rightly be considered tech hubs in the first place, by looking at a variety of factors including cost of living, average educational attainment, and tech employment levels as a share of different industries....
One factor is the military–industrial complex (MIC) which feeds into the U.S.’ defense dominance, with a longstanding tradition of the defense and weapons industries working closely with the U.S. government and armed forces. A Breakdown of U.S. Military Spending So what are these billions being spent on? The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) laid out the spending plan when they made their 2020 budget proposal. It included a few main areas to invest in, including:...
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 April 2020 VC+ is our newly launched 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 days?...
In fact, there is no noticeable lag effect at all. That’s because emitted photons travel at 186,000 miles (300,000 km) per second, meaning it takes only 1/500,000th of a second for light to reach even the furthest part of an ordinary room. And, if it could go through the wall, it would orbit the entire planet 7.5 times in just one second. Light Speed is Fast… In our every day experiences, we never see light as having to “take time” to do anything....
However, the world isn’t quite ready for broadscale blockchain adoption. The technology is still in its relative infancy, and to reach its true potential the blockchain must be able to successfully replace existing systems while also operating at meaningful scale. Today’s infographic comes to us from eXeBlock Technology, and it explores how good blockchain governance can help solve the pressing challenges around blockchain adoption and implementation, including the ever-present issue of scalability....
Is it reasonable then, in our quest for happiness, to begin working less? Advocates of a shorter workweek would agree, but these policies have yet to be widely-adopted. Today’s chart plots data from the World Happiness Report 2019 and the OECD to determine if there’s any correlation between a country’s happiness and average hours worked per person. What Happens When We Work Too Much? The unhealthy side effects of working long hours are well established....
The S&P Goldman Sachs Commodity Index (GSCI) climbed 10.1% on the year – it was just enough to edge out the S&P 500, which ended 2016 with a 9.5% return. Winners in 2016 The biggest winners on the year were base metals and the oil and gas sector. Here’s how base metals did: Iron ore and zinc were the best performing commodities on the face of the planet in 2016....
Earlier in the week, we showed you the companies that make the most profit per second. It’s a measure where Apple blows every other company out of the water. The tech giant makes $1,444 in net income per second – about $700 higher than its closest competition, which include banks, conglomerates, and other tech companies. While Apple may dominate when seconds are used as the denominator, how does it do when looking at profit per employee instead?...
The Slow Death of Traditional Media Desperation time as old guard clings to falling market share The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays. Bill Gates once famously said that we systematically overestimate the change that will occur in two years, while underestimating the change that will come in the next ten. The ongoing conversation about the death of legacy media definitely fits that mold. Over the last five to ten years, people have been talking about how the newspaper, magazine, or radio station would become all but obsolete....
