Data & Eggs
Volume 123
In this week's edition: record-low taxes for the richest Americans, the most complicated English words, and migration’s impact on our world.
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The No Doubter Report
Last week, we launched our first annual “no doubter” report, which tabulates the number of home runs that were hit hard enough, long enough, and high enough to leave any major league field. Pete Alonso may have led the MLB with 53 homers this season, but another player tallied six more no doubters.
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Is “Ass” The Most Complicated Word in English?
Last year on Conan, Finnish comedian Ismo discussed his frustrations with the many nuances of the English language. His main criticism? That the word “ass” has too many meanings. And historically, he’s right — there have been over 200 unique uses of “ass”, after first appearing in 1515. This new project from The Pudding looks at some of the most complicated English words based on historical context.
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The Rich Really Do Pay Lower Taxes Than You
Once upon a time, when Warren Buffett proclaimed his tax bill to be a measly 17.4%, it seemed at least possible that he was an outlier. But new data collected by professors at UC Berkeley on the taxes paid by the 400 richest American shows that’s not the case. The overall tax rate on the 400 wealthiest households was just 23% in 2018, down from 70% in 1950. That’s also lower than any other income group.
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Why Migration Is Bigger and More Contentious Than Ever
The number of migrants reach 250 million in 2017, or roughly 3.4% of the global population. While conflicts and instability across the world have increased that number a little, refugees make up just one-tenth of all migrants. Other factors — like better technology, opportunities to study abroad, and climate change — have also contributed. This piece from Bloomberg breaks it all down.
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Beautiful News
Information is Beautiful has always been one of our favorite resources for data viz inspiration, and now they’re blessing us with even more content. Last week they introduced Beautiful News, a site where they’ll be posting a new thought-provoking chart every single day. Check out their great posts so far and make sure to follow their Twitter for daily updates.