To: Frequent posters, lurkers, and innocents on several mail lists
Hi Folks,
Not many of you have the World Bank ATLAS which I have been
using as a source of economic data for my posts, or so it seems.
But the below exchange of notes with Mike Huben gave me some
much needed advice on the effective presentation of graphical
material and led me to another useful source of economic data,
samples of which follow Mike's note.
Kind regards,
WesBurt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Begin Mike's note ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Subj: Re: A Robust Global Model for grades K-12
Date: 99-02-26 22:53:30 EST
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Mike Huben)
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
(notice that wesburt's text was indented by mike)
I added your home page at URL <http://world.std.com/~mhuben/>
to my "Favorite places" list about a week ago, forgot the source
of your address, and just got around to paying you a visit. Enjoyed
it very much.
Your treatment of Libertarianism makes me wonder how that cult
maintains its numbers and popularity. They sound oblivious of
the proper functions of government.
Well thanks. It's always a pleasure to know somebody enjoyed my work.
When you have a spare moment, which is not often I would say,
take a look at my system diagrams at URL
<http://www.freespeech.org/darves/bert.html>. The visual-aids
(system diagrams) follow after my too lengthy post at that web
site.
Perhaps you could tell me why that set of graphical
representations of reality get no supporting response, even though
the Determined Defenders of the Status Quo (DDotSQ) have not
laid a glove on any of the illustrations since 1994 when they were
first re-drawn as computer files and distributed..
I took a quick look, and I'd say there's a simple explanation.
Your presentation is too dense and presumes too much
background in the reader. It also assumes acceptance by the
reader of a great deal of biblical reference.
With the exception of the first two diagrams, your diagrams are
rather opaque about what they mean. You may want to refer to
some references such as Tufte about visual representation of
data to fine-tune these diagrams.
Making the text of your ideas more accessible is possibly more
labor. My own methdology was to argue in newsgroups, and let
my opponents force me to present my ideas lucidly enough that
other readers would chide my opponents for being idiots.
Perhaps an easier way would be to model your writing on that in
Liberalism Resurgent, a site I helped to create. (I provided editorial
criticism for many of the pages.)
All good presentation relies on critical feedback to help develop
clarity. Perhaps what you need is to reorder your thoughts with
a good outline for the presentation first. If you try saying it without
the biblical allusions and acronyms, it might read more easily too.
For reference, I am a retired mechanical engineer, a life member
of the ieee, the proud parent of four middle aged children, and a
devoted student of The Optimum Policy (TOP) for industrial society
since 1969, when I decided that our public policy of the last
hundred years, Sucks, as illustrated in Fig.10.
Thanks for making your web site available.
Kind regards,
Wesley S. Burt
Glad to be of service!
Mike Huben [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://world.std.com/~mhuben/
For rebuttals to libertarian arguments, check out:
Critiques of Libertarianism
http://world.std.com/~mhuben/libindex.html
Liberalism Resurgent
http://www.scruz.net/~kangaroo/tenets.htm
See also my monthly column at Suite 101:
Skepticism
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/skepticism
Which is better: to achieve Nirvana, or become a Boddhissatva?
Taner Edis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End Mike's note ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>> Begin another useful source of economic data <<<<<<<<
CIA Handbook for International Economic Statistics:
<http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/hies97/index.htm >
Contents
•Economic Profile
•Aggregative Trends
•OECD Country Trends
•Independent Republics of the Former Soviet Union
•Energy
•Agriculture
•Minerals and Metals
•Chemicals and Manufactured Goods
•Foreign Trade and Aid
•Environmental Topics
•Index and Conversion Factors
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Begin Canadian Economics Profile ~~~~~~~~~~
Economy—overview: As an affluent, high-tech industrial society, Canada
today closely resembles the US in its market-oriented economic system,
pattern of production, and high living standards. Since World War II,
the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors
has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one
primarily industrial and urban. Canada started the 1990s in recession,
and real rates of growth have averaged only 1.1% so far this decade.
Because of slower growth, Canada still faces high
unemployment—especially in Quebec and the Maritime Provinces—and a large
public sector debt. With its great natural resources, skilled labor
force, and modern capital plant, however, Canada will enjoy better
economic prospects in the future. The continuing constitutional impasse
between English- and French-speaking areas is raising the possibility of
a split in the federation, making foreign investors somewhat edgy.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$658 billion (1997 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 3.5% (1997 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$21,700 (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 3%
industry: 31%
services: 66% (1997)
Inflation rate—consumer price index: 1.8% (1997)
Labor force:
total: 15.3 million (1997)
by occupation: services 75%, manufacturing 16%, agriculture 3%,
construction 5%, other 1% (1997)
Unemployment rate: 8.6% (December 1997)
Budget:
revenues: $106.5 billion
expenditures: $117.2 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.7
billion (1996)
Industries: processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and
paper products, transportation equipment, chemicals, fish products,
petroleum and natural gas
Industrial production growth rate: 1.7% (1997 est.)
Electricity—capacity: 113.645 million kW (1995)
Electricity—production: 532.64 billion kWh (1995)
Electricity—consumption per capita: 17,448 kWh (1995)
Agriculture—products: wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits,
vegetables; dairy products; forest products; commercial fisheries
provide annual catch of 1.5 million metric tons, of which 75% is
exported
Exports:
total value: $208.6 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: newsprint, wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, machinery,
natural gas, aluminum, motor vehicles and parts; telecommunications
equipment
partners: US, Japan, UK, Germany, South Korea, Netherlands, China
Imports:
total value: $194.4 billion (c.i.f., 1997)
commodities: crude oil, chemicals, motor vehicles and parts, durable
consumer goods, computers; telecommunications equipment and parts
partners: US, Japan, UK, Germany, France, Mexico, Taiwan, South Korea
Debt—external: $253 billion (1996)
Economic aid:
donor: ODA, $1.6 billion (1995)
note: ODA and OOF commitments, $10.1 billion (1986-91)
Currency: 1 Canadian dollar (Can$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$1—1.4408 (January 1998),
1.3846 (1997), 1.3635 (1996), 1.37241 (1995), 1.3656 (1994), 1.2901
(1993)
Fiscal year: 1 April—31 March
~~~~~~~~~~~~ End Canadian Economics Profile ~~~~~~~~~~
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Begin U.K. Economics Profile ~~~~~~~~~~
Economy—overview: The UK is one of the world's great trading powers and
financial centers, and its essentially capitalistic economy ranks among
the four largest in Western Europe. Over the past two decades the
government has greatly reduced public ownership and contained the growth
of social welfare programs. Agriculture is intensive, highly mechanized,
and efficient by European standards, producing about 60% of food needs
with only about 1% of the labor force. The UK has large coal, natural
gas, and oil reserves; primary energy production accounts for 12% of
GDP, one of the highest shares of any industrial nation. Services,
particularly banking, insurance, and business services, account by far
for the largest proportion of GDP while industry continues to decline in
importance, now employing only 18% of the work force. Exports and
manufacturing output have been the primary engines of growth.
Unemployment is gradually falling. Inflation is a moderate 3.1%. A major
economic policy question for the UK in the late 1990s is the terms on
which it participates in the financial and economic integration of
Europe.
GDP: purchasing power parity—$1.242 trillion (1997 est.)
GDP—real growth rate: 3.5% (1997 est.)
GDP—per capita: purchasing power parity—$21,200 (1997 est.)
GDP—composition by sector:
agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 31.4%
services: 66.8% (1996 est.)
Inflation rate—consumer price index: 3.1% (1997)
Labor force:
total: 28.2 million (1997)
by occupation: services 68.9%, manufacturing and construction 17.5%,
government 11.3%, energy 1.2%, agriculture 1.1% (1996)
Unemployment rate: 5.5% (1997 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $416.1 billion
expenditures: $470 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1996
est.)
Industries: production machinery including machine tools, electric power
equipment, automation equipment, railroad equipment, shipbuilding,
aircraft, motor vehicles and parts, electronics and communications
equipment, metals, chemicals, coal, petroleum, paper and paper products,
food processing, textiles, clothing, and other consumer goods
Industrial production growth rate: 2% (1997 est.)
Electricity—capacity: 66.149 million kW (1995)
Electricity—production: 306.62 billion kWh (1995)
Electricity—consumption per capita: 5,546 kWh (1995)
Agriculture—products: cereals, oilseed, potatoes, vegetables; cattle,
sheep, poultry; fish
Exports:
total value: $268 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, chemicals,
semifinished goods, transport equipment
partners: EU countries 53.2% (Germany 12.4%, France 9.9%, Netherlands
7.8%), US 11.4% (1996)
Imports:
total value: $283.5 billion (f.o.b., 1997)
commodities: manufactured goods, machinery, semifinished goods,
foodstuffs, consumer goods
partners: EU countries 50.2% (Germany 14.2%, France 9.0%, Netherlands
6.5%), US 13.9% (1996)
Debt—external: $16.2 billion (June 1992)
Economic aid:
donor: ODA, $2.908 billion (1993)
Currency: 1 British pound (£) = 100 pence
Exchange rates: British pounds (£) per US$1—0.6115 (January 1998),
0.6106 (1997), 0.6403 (1996), 0.6335 (1995), 0.6529 (1994), 0.6658
(1993)
Fiscal year: 1 April—31 March
~~~~~~~~~~~~ End U.K. Economics Profile ~~~~~~~~~~
>>>>>>> End another useful source of economic data <<<<<<<<
