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Visualizing $63 Trillion Of World Debt
Visualizing $63 Trillion Of World Debt
If you add up all the money that national governments have borrowed, it tallies to a hefty $63 trillion.
Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist
In an ideal situation, governments are just borrowing this money to cover short-term budget deficits or to finance mission critical projects. However, as Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins notes, around the globe, countries have taken to the idea of running constant deficits as the normal course of business, and too much accumulation of debt is not healthy for countries or the global economy as a whole.
The U.S. is a prime example of “debt creep” – the country hasn’t posted an annual budget surplus since 2001, when the federal debt was only $6.9 trillion (54% of GDP). Fast forward to today, and the debt has ballooned to roughly $20 trillion (107% of GDP), which is equal to 31.8% of the world’s sovereign debt nominally.
THE WORLD DEBT LEADERBOARD
In today’s infographic, we look at two major measures: (1) Share of global debt as a percentage, and (2) Debt-to-GDP.
Let’s look at the top five “leaders” in each category, starting with share of global debt on a nominal basis:
Together, just these five countries together hold 66% of the world’s debt in nominal terms – good for a total of $41.6 trillion.
Next, here’s the top five for Debt-to-GDP:
While only Italy and Japan here are considered major economies on a global scale, the high debt levels of countries like Greece or Portugal are also important to monitor.
In the IMF’s baseline scenario, Greece’s government debt will reach 275% of its GDP by 2060, when its financing needs will represent 62% of GDP.
– A recent IMF report, obtained by Bloomberg
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Every Single Cognitive Bias In One Infographic
Every Single Cognitive Bias In One Infographic
The human brain is capable of incredible things, but it’s also extremely flawed at times.
Science has shown that we tend to make all sorts of mental mistakes, called “cognitive biases”, that can affect both our thinking and actions. These biases, as Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins points out, can lead to us extrapolating information from the wrong sources, seeking to confirm existing beliefs, or failing to remember events the way they actually happened!
To be sure, this is all part of being human – but such cognitive biases can also have a profound effect on our endeavors, investments, and life in general. For this reason, today’s infographic from DesignHacks.co is particularly handy. It shows and groups each of the 188 known confirmation biases in existence.
WHAT IS A COGNITIVE BIAS?
Humans tend to think in certain ways that can lead to systematic deviations from making rational judgments.
These tendencies usually arise from:
- Information processing shortcuts
- The limited processing ability of the brain
- Emotional and moral motivations
- Distortions in storing and retrieving memories
- Social influence
Cognitive biases have been studied for decades by academics in the fields of cognitive science, social psychology, and behavioral economics, but they are especially relevant in today’s information-packed world. They influence the way we think and act, and such irrational mental shortcuts can lead to all kinds of problems in entrepreneurship, investing, or management.
COGNITIVE BIAS EXAMPLES
Here are four examples of how these types of biases can affect people in the business world:
Familiarity Bias: An investor puts her money in “what she knows”, rather than seeking the obvious benefits from portfolio diversification. Just because a certain type of industry or security is familiar doesn’t make it the logical selection.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Visualizing The Future Of Food
Visualizing The Future Of Food
The urban population is exploding around the globe, and, as Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins explains below, yesterday’s food systems will soon be sub-optimal for many of the megacities swelling with tens of millions of people.
Further, issues like wasted food, poor working conditions, polluted ecosystems, mistreated animals, and greenhouse gases are just some of the concerns that people have about our current supply chains.
Today’s infographic from Futurism shows how food systems are evolving – and that the future of food depends on technologies that enable us to get more food out of fewer resources.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Centralized “Truth” – 13 Ways To Fight Fake News (And The Big Problem With All Of Them)
Centralized “Truth” – 13 Ways To Fight Fake News (And The Big Problem With All Of Them)
The following infographic from Futurism sums up the ideas that academics, technologists, and other experts are proposing that we implement to stop the spread of fake news.
Below the infographic, Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins raises concerns about each of these methods.
While fake news is certainly problematic, the solutions proposed to penalize articles deemed to be “untrue” are just as scary.
By centralizing fact checking, a system is created that is inherently fragile, biased, and prone for abuse. Furthermore, the idea of axing websites that are deemed to be “untrue” is an initiative that limits independent thought and discourse, while allowing legacy media to remain entrenched.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Inside The World’s “Doomsday Vault”
Inside The World’s “Doomsday Vault”
ENTER THE ‘DOOMSDAY VAULT’
Well, besides the fact that the world’s cities have been replaced by smoking craters, there is some good news for the humans that survive a potentially apocalyptic scenario.
On a remote island that is just 800 miles (1,300 km) from the North Pole, the Norwegian government has built a failsafe in the freezing cold that protects thousands of the most vital crops from extinction. Officially called the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, it already holds close to a million samples of crops around the world, with each sample holding about 500 seeds.
Today’s infographic, from Futurism, has more on this Doomsday Vault that could one day help to save civilization:
Visualizing The World’s Deepest Oil Well
Visualizing The World’s Deepest Oil Well
In the world’s deepest gold mine, workers will venture 2.5 miles (4 km) below the Earth’s surface to extract from a 30-inch (0.8m) wide vein of gold-rich ore.
While these depths are impressive, Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins notes that mining is limited by the frailty of the human body.Going much deeper would be incredibly dangerous, as limitations such as heat, humidity, logistics, and potential seismic activity all become more intense.
Luckily, the oil industry does not have such human obstacles, and drilling deep into the Earth’s crust is instead limited by a different set of circumstances – how deep can the machinery and technology go before the unfathomable heat and pressure renders it inoperable?
THE WORLD’S DEEPEST OIL WELL
Today’s infographic comes to us from Fuel Fighter, and it helps to visualize the mind-boggling depths of the world’s deepest oil well, which is located in a remote corner of eastern Russia.
Currency And The Collapse Of The Roman Empire
Currency And The Collapse Of The Roman Empire
Rome had conquered much of the known world. The Empire built 50,000 miles of roads, as well as many aqueducts, amphitheatres, and other works that are still in use today.
Our alphabet, calendar, languages, literature, and architecture borrow much from the Romans. Even concepts of Roman justice still stand tall, such as being “innocent until proven guilty”.
So, as Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins’ asks, how could such a powerful empire collapse?
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
