slurp – flowingmotion

You will understand the economic indicators of the US with this visualizaton

Published November 6, 2009 by Jo Jordan

Did you study economics?

I’ve never studied economics formally but I wish I had. Not because I think Economists get right. Some of my best friends are economists (:) really!). They are intelligent, thinking people. But they rarely get anything right.

I wish I’d studied economics because I think it is important to understand economic statistics. How can we function without knowing where the economy is going? How can we make political choices if we don’t understand what is happening around us?

Thankfully contemporary visualizations help us understand economic data

I might be let off my need to improve my economic literacy by the accelerating trend to slurp numbers and arrange them so that more of us can understand them.

Here is a marvelous visualization of the US economy.

On almost every indicator, the US economy seems to have bottomed and turned. It’s a snappy little presentation allowing us to click quickly through ten indicators. The data readjusts with a springy look which reminds us, I think, the short-term instability of economic data.

Before I saw this visualization, I hadn’t appreciated how well the American economy is doing.

I wish we have an equivalent presentation on UK economy.

Who is audacious enough to hope?

Do have a look. I find myself not daring to hope that they are true. I wonder how many more people want to wait a bit before they get their hopes up?

Do we pay enough attn to world politics in local career planning?

Published October 18, 2009 by Jo Jordan

Daft question? I hope not

Today, I whizzed over my Acorn feed. I recommend it to you. It is always well written – up there in the top class with the Spectator and The Economist.

It is erudite and informed, topical and up-to-date.

Acorn discusses political economy and international relations through India’s eyes. I find it so useful. Somebody is asking thoughtful questions about the world in a systematic way.

It is particularly useful to understand the conflict in Afghanistan. I also read it to understand the race for Africa’s resources. You will find expertise on topics that interest you, I am sure.

The importance of a professional diplomatic service

Today, Acorn argued that a country must systematically map out the power relationships in the world, and that failure to do so, will lead to loss of world status. I couldn’t agree more. I doubt we can be any stronger than the combined abilities of our diplomatic service.

Foreign affairs and career planning

But surely each and every one of us should be consciously mapping world relations too?

Why, dear fellow career professionals, do we not check that our clients understand the world economy and international relations?

I know they are fretful about the decisions they need to make now. But unless they get into the habit of understanding the vested interests in the world, aren’t they going to continue ‘lurching from church to school’?

We need simple visual renditions and we need to be informed ourselves

I would like to spend more time gathering simple information together so that people can see their goals in relation to other people’s goals, and to see it all unfold in real time.

Work & organizational psychology in the 21st century

I suspect that the main practical contribution by work psychologists in the turbulent economy of the 21st century will be to provide dynamic feedback to help people position themselves relative to the others.

So good on the Acorn. I recommend it for your own edification.

If you are interested in slurping data and presenting it on the net to help people understand where they are in relation to the world, please give me a nudge.

Job Maps for UK at Sky News

Published March 19, 2009 by Jo Jordan

Brilliant! Sky News has set up a map showing where jobs are being made and lost in the UK. This is an excellent aggregator to keep an eye on snippets of news that might otherwise get lost.

Next we need a way of generating summaries. After that, we need to be able to track fundamental processes that are leading to ‘spring’ and ‘autumn’ in various parts of the economy.

PS Though the link seems not to be active, this is a good idea. We need to slurp our data, rearrange it and share it. Watch this space for more slurping and visualization arranged positively to help you take action! Send me an email if your are interested.

Tag: slurp