Gapminder review
Although Gapminder offers mainly classic orthogonal representations, it can present a significant quantity of information in a single chart (different variables: 2 axes, bubble size, bubble color), while in a dynamic mode it adds the ‘time’ variable offering a really picturesque and descriptive representation. It also offers much freedom for customization/exploration.Dataset exploration
I decided to explore data concerning world population's incomes and financial inequalities. The chart below represents an overview of wold's wealth distribution. The full pie is the total income of the world's population, while the different colors represent the economic classes of the world in five groups of even population (20% of the whole population each). The numbers are averages starting from the first data available in 1979. Only a quick look at this chart renders the wealth distribution inequality obvious. The 20% richest part of the world possesses almost half of planet's total wealth.But then another interesting question arises. Which are the relations of these 5 economic classes during the dynamic changes of wold's wealth distribution? To examine this question I made a series of motion charts each time with different economic classes at the axes. The first one shows the relation of the two lowest classes over time.
As we can see, the bubbles tend to form a linear pattern with a positive relationship, meaning that as the poorest class increases its income share, the 2nd poorest class does the same. So they should both be drawing their extra share from some other class(es).
So, the following chart shows the relation between the poorest and the middle class.
The linear pattern is not as clear as in the previous chart but it is still apparent with a slightly smaller upward slope. The poorest class continues to increase its income share as the middle class does the same. So they should both be drawing their extra share from some other class(es).
In a similar way, the following chart shows the relation between the poorest and the 2nd richest class.
Here the linear pattern has almost completely disappear. The bubbles seem to be placed almost in a random way, however still in a slight upward slope.
So the last chart shows the relation between the poorest and the richest economic classes.
At this point we can see a clear inversion of the previous trends. The pattern becomes again clearly linear but for the first time the slope is downward. As the poorest class's income share is shrinking, the richest class's rises. Poorest people's income share loss seems to be transformed into excess income share mostly for the richest people.
But what about the relation of the richest class with other classes than the poorest?
As we can see the pattern between the 2nd poorest class and the richest one is the same as the previous, only with a slighter downward slope.
Following are the two remaining couples (middle-richest and & 2nd richest-richest).
The above trends continue in respective manners. The linear pattern continues to exist with a descending slope until it becomes unclear but still downward in the last chart (2nd richest-richest).
In conclusion, the above examined charts reveal that as in societies the richest people increase their wealth share, this becomes in a direction of inequality, meaning that in such a case the lower classes people loose part of their income share in proportion to how poor they are. Or put in a different way the poorer they are, the more they loose.
