Chart collection

The Economics Canon

Living versions of classic economic charts, paired with their original claims and the limits of their modern measurements.

8 charts · every one live and refreshed with the rest of the dashboard

Prices of labor-intensive services vs. goods

01 / 08

The Chart of the Century

Prices of labor-intensive services vs. goods · updated 2026-07

The original claim: Productivity differences can make labor-intensive services grow more expensive relative to manufactured goods.
What this chart measures: BLS CPI-U component indices and average hourly earnings, rebased to January 2000.
Where it departs: This is a modern U.S. price comparison in Baumol's tradition, not a replication of the 1966 analysis; quality adjustment and changing consumption categories matter.

OriginalWilliam J. Baumol and William G. Bowen, Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma (1966) ↗OverviewBaumol effect ↗Related chartsService and goods prices since 2000 · Productivity vs. real compensation

View the live chart →

02 / 08

The Great Decoupling

Productivity vs. real compensation · updated 2026-04-01

The original claim: Typical worker compensation stopped rising in step with economy-wide productivity.
What this chart measures: BLS nonfarm-business output per hour and real compensation per hour, each indexed from 1948.
Where it departs: Real compensation per hour is a broad average and differs from EPI's typical-worker compensation construction, so this chart is related to the canonical exhibit rather than an exact reproduction.

OriginalEconomic Policy Institute, The Productivity–Pay Gap ↗OverviewDecoupling of wages from productivity ↗Related chartsLabor share of output, nonfarm business · Total factor productivity, utilization-adjusted

View the live chart →

Total factor productivity, utilization-adjusted

03 / 08

The Solow Residual

Total factor productivity, utilization-adjusted · updated 2026-06

The original claim: A large part of measured output growth remains after accounting for growth in labor and capital inputs.
What this chart measures: John Fernald's utilization-adjusted total factor productivity growth series for the U.S. business sector.
Where it departs: TFP is a residual shaped by measurement, model assumptions, utilization adjustment, and revisions; it is not a direct observation of technology.

OriginalRobert M. Solow, Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function (1957) ↗OverviewSolow residual ↗Related chartsProductivity vs. real compensation · Business output vs. hours worked since 1947

View the live chart →

04 / 08

The Buffett Indicator

Corporate equities vs. GDP · updated 2026-01-01

The original claim: The value of the stock market relative to national output is a broad gauge of aggregate valuation.
What this chart measures: Federal Reserve corporate-equity market value divided by nominal U.S. GDP.
Where it departs: The numerator and denominator cover different economic universes, and globalization, sector composition, interest rates, and intangible assets can change the ratio over time.

OriginalWarren Buffett and Carol Loomis, Warren Buffett on the Stock Market (2001) ↗OverviewBuffett indicator ↗Related chartsQuits and job openings per unemployed worker · 5- and 10-year real interest rates

View the live chart →

05 / 08

The Inverted Yield Curve

10-Year–2-Year Treasury Yield Spread · updated 2026-07

The original claim: The term structure of interest rates contains information about subsequent economic growth.
What this chart measures: The monthly 10-year minus 2-year U.S. Treasury yield spread, with NBER recessions shaded.
Where it departs: An inversion is an empirical signal rather than a deterministic forecast; monetary policy, term premia, and the chosen maturities affect the reading.

OriginalCampbell R. Harvey, Recovering Expectations of Consumption Growth from an Equilibrium Model of the Term Structure of Interest Rates (1986) ↗OverviewInverted yield curve ↗Related chartsU.S. Treasury Yield Curve · 5- and 10-year real interest rates

View the live chart →

06 / 08

The Beveridge Curve

Job Openings vs. Unemployment · updated 2026-06

The original claim: Job vacancies and unemployment usually move in opposite directions over the business cycle, while shifts in their relationship can reflect changes in labor-market matching.
What this chart measures: Monthly U.S. total-nonfarm job openings and U-3 unemployment rates from December 2000 onward.
Where it departs: The modern JOLTS/CPS pairing uses different surveys and denominators, covers only the JOLTS era, and does not identify why the curve moves or shifts.

OriginalJ. C. R. Dow and L. A. Dicks-Mireaux, The Excess Demand for Labour (1958) ↗OverviewBeveridge curve ↗Related chartsLayoffs, trailing 12 months · Output growth vs. job growth · Graduate unemployment

View the live chart →

07 / 08

The Phillips Curve

Inflation vs. Unemployment · updated 2024

The original claim: Lower unemployment was associated with faster money-wage growth in Phillips's historical British data.
What this chart measures: Annual-average U.S. U-3 unemployment and year-over-year CPI-U inflation, shown as yearly observations grouped by decade from 1949.
Where it departs: This uses U.S. price inflation rather than Phillips's British wage-inflation measure and does not control for expectations, supply shocks, productivity, policy, or changes in labor-market composition.

OriginalA. W. Phillips, The Relation Between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the United Kingdom, 1861–1957 (1958) ↗OverviewPhillips curve ↗Related chartsConsumer inflation expectations vs. reality · 5- and 10-year real interest rates · Job Openings vs. Unemployment

View the live chart →

08 / 08

Okun's Law

GDP Growth vs. Unemployment Change · updated 2026-Q2

The original claim: Changes in unemployment are systematically related to departures of output growth from its normal pace.
What this chart measures: Annualized quarter-over-quarter U.S. real-GDP growth against the quarterly change in average U-3 unemployment, with a fixed 1949–2019 fit.
Where it departs: The coefficient depends on sample, specification, revisions, productivity, labor-force participation, and hours; this difference version is not Okun's original output-gap calculation and is not causal.

OriginalArthur M. Okun, Potential GNP: Its Measurement and Significance (1962) ↗OverviewOkun's law ↗Related chartsOutput growth vs. job growth · Business output vs. hours worked since 1947 · Job Openings vs. Unemployment

View the live chart →

Why these are rebuilt, not reprinted

Each entry pairs a famous claim with a live measurement made from public data available today. The modern series is rarely the original author's series: definitions move, agencies revise, and some of the original data was never published in a form anyone can refresh. Every entry says what it measures and where it departs from the exhibit it descends from, so the chart can be read as evidence rather than as a reproduction.