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March 27, 2006
Death and taxes graphically illustrated
Visual illustrations are a great way of showing a point. One of the important visualisations to be made is about clarifying abstract and hard-to-grasp concepts, like government expenditures.
A very good example is made here, illustrating the federal expenditures of the US. It gives, through its simplicity a clear image of what the federal government's priorities.
Now, the author takes this as an example of asking why the government spends so much on the military. Valid question but I find one easy reply in pointing out that the US is a federal state. Much of what author finds as legitimate expenditures are not done by the federal government- but by the individual states.
I'm afraid that a similar diagram of Sweden wouldn't look as cool. We are a much more centralized country than the US. Various kinds of welfare grants amount to 42.5% of the government's expenditures of taxes. Defence, the legal system and the educational system are minuscule in comparison (thanks Centerextremisten). It might not be a fun diagram, but it would be instructive, and it would pose us the same question as clearly. Are we really spending tax money in a good fashion?
The question would have been more difficult to visualize without the graphics, and I cannot help but wondering if a more visual society will pose different political questions than a society that was more dependent on statistics.
Posted by Waldemar at March 27, 2006 03:07 PM