Category Archives: Charts

Chart: Stock Market Over Time

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I came across this chart showing the historical value of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, starting in 1902 to March 2010.

This chart is a great example of the distortions that are created when an unequal scale is used. The scale showing the average value of the Dow Jones is shown on the right hand side. The increments are wide apart as the value goes up from $31 to $1,000. That rise over 80 years takes half the vertical distance. But then the increments get compressed as the value rises from 1,000 to $10,000 from 1982 to March 2010. This is a dramatic increase but because the scale at the top is so compressed, it does not accurately portray the change. What would it look like if they used equal increments? Would the chart tell a different story?

Here it is in a word document: dow jones average over time

Here is the url: http://stockcharts.com/charts/historical/djia1900.html

Chart: Unemployment During Recession and Recovery

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I came across this chart in a recent report: “Creating a Safety Net that Works When the Economy Doesn’t: The Role of the Food Stamp and TANF Programs,” By LaDonna Pavetti, et al. released by the Urban Institute.

The chart shows the unemployment rates during recessions and recoveries. It is a good chart–it is clear, easy to understand and uses accurate scales. I am not sure how economists decide when a recession has moved into recovery though. Only the November 1982 recession is actually at the peak of unemployment rates and then declines. The current recession, according to this chart, ended in July 2009 and we are now in recovery, even though the unemployment rate is still rising. But then the unemployment rate continued to rise in the recovery period of the 1991 and 2001 recessions.

For those who are still losing jobs, this probably does not feel like a recovery. The report itself found that the food stamp program has generally been responsive to the needs of those who have lost their jobs. TANF (the reinvented welfare program), however, has not been responsive.

chart unemployment recession