Data link roundup (week of October 11, 2013)

The week's top data analysis links...
This week's theme: What's going on in the nation's capitol.


WAS THERE AS MUCH GRIDLOCK THEN, TOO?

Since the Lincoln Memorial is closed, this is probably an appropriate time to mention that the site once was under water. Or, to be more precise, much of the National Mall is located on land that was formerly the Potomac River.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine

The Smithsonian has an online mapping tool (still working, despite the shutdown) that compares Washington, D.C. in 1851 and today.

The interactive mapping tool also showcases other cities, including New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Los Angeles, and more.


TO WHOM DO I OWE...?

Despite all the chatter about the impending debt ceiling, I suspect (from commentary overheard both on the news and on the subway) that most people have no idea to whom the U.S. government owes money. The debt data are readily available from the Government Accounting Office, and National Public Radio turned the information into an easy-to-read graphic.

Source: NPR

(PS - It is worth reading the GAO report, which explains the difference between debt held by the public and debt held by government accounts like the Social Security trust fund.)


WHAT THE SHUTDOWN LOOKS LIKE IN THE DISTRICT

• Metro ridership is down 20 percent.
• No survey data are being collected by agencies like the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, and U.S. Department of Agriculture.
• CDC is not publishing any new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports. The CDC website notes that "Because of the current lapse in government funding, MMWR is able to publish and distribute only reports on immediate health threats."
• The Washington Post has been collecting, and mapping, stories from people affected by the shutdown. The interactive map is both fascinating and depressing.

BEST CHART OF THE WEEK

This chart is more than a week old. In fact, The Economist published a comparison of hospital costs by country way back in June, but given the rhetoric pouring off of Capitol Hill, perhaps it bears another look:

Source: The Economist

Yes, the average cost per hospital patient per day in the United States is more than $4,000, while nations like New Zealand, France, and Spain (among many others) have costs lower than $1,000 per patient per day (and longer life expectancy, too).


IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

This blog's list of data resources to get you through the data-dark days of the U.S. federal shutdown received some nice praise from some well-respected authors:

• Jonathan Nettler, Planetizen
• Dr. John Weeks, Weeks Population