27 Visualizations and Infographics to Understand the Financial Crisis

March 13, 2009

Topic

Visualization

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If there’s anything good that has come out of the financial crisis it’s the slew of high-quality graphics to help us understand what’s going on. Some visualizations attempt to explain it all while others focus on affected business. Others concentrate on how we, as citizens are affected. Some show those who are responsible. After you examine these 27 visualizations and infographics, no doubt you’ll have a pretty good idea about what’s going on.

Visual Guides to the Financial Crisis

Let’s start things off with some comprehensive guides to the financial crisis. Several of these are from GOOD magazine’s recent contest to make sense of it all.

2008 Financial Crisis by Carolyn Aler and Sam Conway

A Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis by Jess Bachman

Jess from WallStats put this together for the Mint blog. I’m pretty sure they have him on retainer.

The Global Finanical Crisis by Cypher 13

Where Did All the Money Go? by Emilia Klimiuk

From Feliciano Rahardjo

Looks like the beginning of a comic book.

A Closer Look at the Global Financial Crisis by Liam Johnstone

Economic Meltdown of 2008-2009 by Pei San Ng

The Global Money Mess by Karen Ong

Crisis of Credit Visualized by Jonathan Jarvis

We saw this one a few days ago in animated form.

Stimulus vs Bailout Plans

OK, now that we have an idea of what’s going on here, let’s take a look at the stimulus/bailout plans. The government is handing out a lot of money. Where’s it all going and when?

Bailout Tracker by The New York Times

Congressional Voting on the Bailout Plan by The New York Times

Gotta go through a lot of voting before deciding whether or not to spend $700 billion.

Total Spending by The Washington Post

Obama’s $787 billion Dollar Economic Stimulus Plan by CreditLoan

Bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles.

Slicing Up the Economic Stimulus Bill by Associated Press

Recovery.gov from Obama Administration

The Obama administration seems to understand that it’s important to provide information to the public.

Effects on Business

Will the bailout do any good? What effect has the current state of the economy had on big business?

Map of the Market by The New York Times

How this Bear Market Compares by The New York Times

Making Sense of Problems at Fannie and Freddie by The New York Times

Golden Parachutes by Jess Bachman

The Fall of GM by Jess Bachman

The Cost of Bailing Out AIG via Many Eyes

Effects On the Individual

Enough about business. How are you affected?

Job Losses in Recent Recessions by Time Magazine

Visualizing Money

Right.org

One Trillion Dollars by Mint and WallStats

How Much is $700 billion? by USA Today

What Does One Trillion Dollars Look Like from PageTutor

Looks at Past Recessions

The best way to prepare for the future is to look at what was done in the past.

How the Government Dealt with Past Recessions by The New York Times

A Tally of Federal Rescues by The New York Times

See. I told you that you’d understand a this financial crisis a little better. Did I miss any other stellar graphics?

Resources:

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