The price of populism

This week, I found a study on the economic impact of Brexit and the estimates are more dramatic than I would have thought.

Five authors from Stanford University – one of the most prestigious universities in the world – have examined “The Economic Impact of Brexit”. I wasn’t aware of any study on the economic impact of Brexit, but since it happened, I’ve had the impression that things aren’t going so well in the UK.

Well, the authors estimate that Brexit
– had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%,
– employment by 3% to 4% and
– productivity by 3% to 4% besides other negative impacts.

No, I didn’t read the entire study, but I did get stuck on Figure 9 on the “Estimated impact of Brexit.” Why? They are so beautifully clear, the trend so obvious.

But I do have one small comment. As you probabyl know, we here graphomate are big fans of “small multiples” or trellis charts. A basic rule when using them is that they should be scaled equally. Why wasn’t that done here? It’s a tiny adjustment but helps to compare the trends

Am I once again too stuck in my IBCS and graphomate thinking, or do you also see the advantage?
And yes, I would prefer bars to lines in this case or even an index chart.

Please don’t ask me how I managed to adjust the scale in the second diagram without the data. It’s not for nothing that I’m known as the “Paint God” here at the company… 😊

Thank god it’s Friday!

Have a nice weekend,
Lars

PS: By the way – Edward Tufte studied in Stanford 😉

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