Hindu-Arabic numbers were a revolution to mathematics. Essentially, we can store numbers in log space of their quantity. The visualization ignores this invention. Why not show a simple table or bar chart? I could also suspect that the author is trying to frame the numbers for their purposes.
In terms of economics, this doesn’t make much sense either. Debt and wealth are somewhat related by the mechanics of accounting. Debt in some balance sheet is someone else’s equity in their balance sheet. The reverse might not be true as someone can just own something. So why not show these relations in a graph visualization? Also, they cite Credit Suisse for the term wealth. So I have to look this up anyway to understand the number.
Context bar on the right is a strength here as it explains numbers and their relations.
Because it's a visualization. The data is presented in a way where its easy to compare multiple values as they all have the same scale.
A table is just raw data so then it's not a visualization. And for bar charts: I don't think showing the derivatives and silver on a log scale chart makes them very easy to compare.
In terms of economics, this doesn’t make much sense either. Debt and wealth are somewhat related by the mechanics of accounting. Debt in some balance sheet is someone else’s equity in their balance sheet. The reverse might not be true as someone can just own something. So why not show these relations in a graph visualization? Also, they cite Credit Suisse for the term wealth. So I have to look this up anyway to understand the number.
Context bar on the right is a strength here as it explains numbers and their relations.