No Taxation without Representation

I've been meaning to create a tax adjustment calculator. I started with the 2009 IRS summary data here and then created a "change the tax rate" scenario.

As I type this, I remain firmly neutral to this issue. However, it is interesting to note that even the smallest changes in tax percentage points add up to significant overall changes. Ask yourself: what can 1 billion dollars provide if handled properly by the US government? How about a 100 billion?

Download the workbook to pick away at it, change it, improve it, or scoff at it. It is by no means perfect. Just an idea that I wanted to mess around with. The last tab contains more references. Each tab has a quick comment on what's going on.

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Snowflake Generator

The holidays are upon us here in the states. You can use the viz below to select from one of our many pre-generated snowflakes. Simply print and cut out! Ready to Decorate!

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Lollipop Chart

Based upon innovative work by Andy Cotgreave here, I took a stab at a Lollipop Chart. Nice and easy... it does have a lighter load on the eyes when compared to a bar chart - I don't think they taste very good though.

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Percentile Chart

I've been meaning to mess around with reference lines in greater quantities. You can go in many different directions with this concept. Specific to this trick of creating gradients, the basic rule of thumb is to work from the outer edges inward. It's mostly about saving time with the mouse clicks. I thought about doing 40 or 50 reference lines on each axis, but have I mentioned how lazy I am? I really do like this analytic concept, though. I would love to see someone create a almost-real-gradient using reference lines. The software can certainly handle it.

In the example below, I placed gradient reference lines for 95,90,86,83,81,80, and 75% (and their counterparts). You can adjust the occupation slider to update the visual.

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Stem and Leaf Plot

This happy little camper is a classic! It seems somewhat obsolete due to all the flash(y) visuals out there these days. Nonetheless, I'm a fan, and yes, Tableau can create these, although it's somewhat of a chore.

Wikipedia is a good place to start on this chart type.

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