The Economist: Covid-19

Yuk, news all the time. . . Like everyone else, I’ve been a bit glued to my phone – looking at the continually “breaking news” on the Covid-19 crisis. Frankly, there is a lot to know and be concerned about.  As I told my students, the entire...

Data Visualization: 20 Economist Graphs

On Thursday night, had a talk to MBAs on logical structuring, storytelling, storyboarding, presentations. Yes, lots to cover in 3 hours.  One area that we went very light on was data visualization. So here’s my contribution. These are from the Economist’s...

Compare and Contrast: Texas, California

Consultants excel at making sense of disparate, messy, and sometimes conflicting data. This is not a robotic exercise in copy/paste into an excel – no – you’ve got to think through the problem. What’s relevant? What’s valid? Can you find...

Consultant’s Advice: Use numbers

Numbers are compelling. They are easy to see and remember. They serve as proof. No wonder your resume bullets should have them.  The Economist uses numbers to great effect. In fact, they love fractions. Copy/pasted quotes from last two issues of the Economist. All...

Economist – November 2018

Read the Economist. Full stop. It’s well-written, free-market, slow-news, and entirely useful. If you pick up a copy from 6 months ago, it’s still relevant because they talk about trends, and key drivers. Not the day-to-day gyrations of public opinion,...

Chilling out with The Economist

The Economist has a blog called Graphic Detail, which excels at showing complex ideas simply. Engaging, thoughtful, and often surprising.  Some recent graphs: 1) High blood pressure globally, not just affluent countries Link here A recent study in Lancet largely...

Consulting tip: Read the Economist

I have been reading the Economist since 1991. So many reasons I like the magazine: Clear thinking, clear writing International in scope; not America-centric Libertarian thinking, but not “gold standard” fundamentalist Opinionated; strong point of view...

Good graphs, look at the Economist blog

I have subscribed to the Economist for 20+ years. Solid reporting. Libertarian angle, but with a strong heart. Another benefit are the excellent graphs. Consultants love graphs  Executives are visual people, and graphs can make an enormous impact without using too...