A Picture Is Worth $100 Million Words
ENTERPRISE BLOG
By Philip I. Levy on Fiscal Policy and Taxes
As we launch into a season of budget discussions, we face a "big" problem. All of the numbers involved sound big. $100 million, $17 billion, $1.2 trillion, $3.5 trillion—each is a big chunk of change. But the relative size matters. That $100 million fits into $3.5 trillion 35,000 times.
For most people, these numbers are hard to fathom. This creates a temptation for policymakers. It's much easier to cut $100 million than to cut $100 billion. If voters don't know the difference, why not call a cabinet meeting and make a big show of the smaller cut and dare anyone to suggest that $100 million isn't real money?
There are certainly those, especially in the new media, who have risen to the challenge of putting these numbers in perspective. I would suggest, though, that this is a key part of the job for all reporters. Take today's headlines, that the Obama administration is calling for $17 billion in budget cuts. The AP does report that:
>>> The proposed cuts amount to less than one-half of 1 percent of the total $3.4 trillion federal budget outline approved last week by the Democratic-run Congress.<<<
I suspect a picture would work better. It would be nice to have a graphic alongside each such story. To offer a helping hand, here are a couple of possibilities to depict a $3.5 trillion budget, a $1.2 trillion deficit, and $17 billion in budget cuts.
Or maybe:
If it proves almost impossible to illustrate effectively the size of $100 million in cuts relative to the overall budget, then maybe that tells us something.
Of course, some may argue that this is a time for fiscal stimulus, not the trimming of deficits. That's fine, so long as there is no pretense of fiscal rectitude. We just need to be wary of government attempts to have its pie (chart) and eat it too. |
