A Data Visualization Newsletter

The Big Mac index was invented by The Economist in 1986 as a way of testing the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP). PPP says that, in the long run, exchange rates should move towards an equilibrium which would equalize the price of an identical commodity (i.e. burger) between two countries. In practice, that theory doesn’t always bear out; right now the Big Mac index shows that the U.S. dollar is overvalued against almost all other currencies.

Pele passed away at the end of December, bringing many soccer fans to reflect on his incredible achievements. He won three World Cups — a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since — and was deemed FIFA’s player of the prior century in 2000. This article from the South China Morning Post walks us through many of the things that made Pele so special.

Here’s a fun project from Neal Agarwal that lets you delve deep into the world of Google Maps. Neal has collected hundreds of images from Google Street View showing some of the weirdest, wildest, and funniest scenes from across the globe. At least one of these photos is bound to make you laugh.

More than 100,000 high school seniors in California apply each year to universities in the UC system. But securing a spot at one of the nine undergraduate campuses is competitive, even for a California resident. The SF Chronicle used UC application, admission, and enrollment data from every public high school in CA to see which students fare best in the process.

In 1990, Congress passed a law that set up a process for Native American tribes to request the return of remains from museums and other institutions that had them. But over 30 years later, at least half of the 210,000 Native American remains have yet to be returned. This article from ProPublica allows you to search roughly 600 federally funded institutions to see which still report having remains.