Graph Projections
Jan 10, 2011 Political
So, I’m out reading various economic news reports of the day. I’m watching some people predicting the end of the world, and others (mainly government sources) describing how wonderful the economy is. As I was looking, I came upon the chart below on this web site. The site isn’t important, just the chart — created by the government. Take a look:
The dotted vertical line 2010. To the left is past data, to the right is future, “projected” data. I notice two trends that, to me, really make this graph nothing but propaganda, despite its dire predictions:
1. The red line: Notice in the past, at no point does the line ever once go down. It evens out one time, but clearly, this line has always increased in the past. Why, then, in the future predictions, does it take a very sharp downturn? This is government spending. It has historically always increased. What makes these chart-makers think for even a second that it will suddenly decrease? I don’t buy that for a minute.
2. The blue line: Notice how historically, this line moves up and down over the years, in gradual amounts. Notice recent years show a strong downward trend. Then note for future projections, it takes a huge upward spike, and then continues at a high angle for 10 years. Once again, history shows one pattern, but projections show a radically different pattern. Again, this chart seems quite silly.
Claim what you want, as government does, but this just gives me more reason to completely distrust any numbers or data coming out of government.
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Tags: economy, graphs, prediction