Research

Original cross-dataset analysis — page 2 of 2.

30 article(s)
Stacked bar chart comparing military, education, and health spending across countries
11 min read

Guns vs Butter in Numbers

Every dollar spent on tanks is a dollar not spent on teachers. We mapped military, education, and health spending for every country — the priorities are stark.

Fiscal & DebtGovernance
wb_wdiundp_hdrpolity_scores
Logarithmic scatter plot showing health spending vs life expectancy with the US as a clear outlier
9 min read

The Health-Wealth Gradient

America spends more on healthcare than anyone and lives shorter. Cuba spends almost nothing and outlives most of its neighbors. The data reveals a brutal curve of diminishing returns.

Health & Development
wb_wdiwho_gho
Slope chart showing manufacturing share declining in advanced economies and rising in Asia
10 min read

The Manufacturing Exodus

The rich world stopped making things — then wondered why it couldn't. We tracked manufacturing's 30-year migration from West to East, in GDP and trade data.

Trade & GlobalizationFiscal & Debt
wb_wdicomtrade_hs2_flows
Dot plot showing fiscal breakeven oil prices versus current market price
10 min read

Oil Price & Fiscal Breakeven

Saudi Arabia needs $80 oil to pay its bills. It didn't always. We estimated fiscal breakeven prices for every major oil producer — and tracked how they rose.

Energy & ClimateFiscal & Debt
imf_weopink_sheetcomtrade_hs2_flows
Bar chart showing oil dependency ratios for petrostate economies
10 min read

Petrostates Under Pressure

What happens when the world stops buying your only product? We mapped oil dependency, fiscal breakevens, and diversification progress for every petrostate. Most aren't ready.

Energy & ClimateFiscal & Debt
comtrade_hs2_flowsimf_weowb_wdi
Scatter plot showing immunization coverage versus GDP with labeled outliers
10 min read

Pandemic Preparedness vs GDP

Rich countries assumed they were ready for a pandemic. They weren't. We mapped health infrastructure against income — the overperformers are poor countries with good systems.

Health & DevelopmentGovernance
who_ghowb_wdiwb_wgi
Bar chart showing remittances as percentage of GDP for dependent economies
11 min read

Migration & Remittances

The world's largest poverty reduction program isn't run by any government — it's run by migrants sending money home. Remittances now dwarf foreign aid for most developing countries.

DemographicsTrade & Globalization
wb_wdiunhcr_popstatsun_desa_pop
Bar chart ranking countries by renewable energy share
12 min read

Renewable Transition Scoreboard

Which countries are actually transitioning to renewables — and which are just talking about it? We ranked every country by solar and wind adoption. The leaders aren't who you'd expect.

Energy & Climate
irena_statswb_wdi
Quadrant chart showing resource wealth versus governance quality
11 min read

The Resource Curse Mapped

Finding oil should make you rich — so why doesn't it? We mapped natural resource wealth against governance and growth. The curse is real, but not inevitable.

GovernanceTrade & Globalization
wb_wdiwb_wgiimf_weo
Stacked area chart showing South-South trade growing as share of global trade
9 min read

South-South Trade Rise

The world's fastest-growing trade routes don't pass through the West. South-South trade has outpaced every other category for 20 years. We mapped the new corridors.

Trade & Globalization
comtrade_hs2_flowswb_wdi
Long-term chart of commodity price cycles with inflation overlay
9 min read

Commodity Supercycles & Inflation

Every inflation crisis in 50 years was foreshadowed by commodity markets. We traced the supercycles — and what they tell us about where we are now.

Energy & ClimateFiscal & Debt
pink_indicespink_sheetimf_weo
Scatter plot showing the S-curve relationship between urbanization and GDP
10 min read

Urbanization vs Productivity

Cities make countries rich — until they don't. We mapped the urbanization-productivity curve for every country. The S-curve is clear, and so are the outliers.

DemographicsHealth & Development
wb_wdiun_desa_pop
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