Geographically vast countries such as the United States or Canada have incredible diversity within their borders. Every part of the country appears unique, as the distribution of population, culture, geographical features, natural resources, and regional industries vary from place to place. Think of the differences within the U.S. alone: Silicon Valley is known for its technology and dry weather, while New York City is diverse and busy financial hub. Detroit and the other cities situated in the Great Lake States are all known for manufacturing....

It’s the power of cobalt, along with several other energy metals, that keeps your lithium-ion battery running. The only problem? Getting the metal from the source to your electronics is not an easy feat, and this makes for an extremely precarious supply chain for manufacturers. Our infographic today comes to us from LiCo Energy Metals, and it focuses on where this important ingredient of green technology originates from, and the supply risks associated with its main sources....

This infographic from Texas Precious Metals compares the increase in public debt to the value of gold and silver coin production during U.S. presidencies. Total Production by Presidential Term We used U.S. public debt in our calculations, a measure of debt owed to third parties such as foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, while excluding intragovernmental holdings. To derive the value of U.S. minted gold and silver coins, we multiplied new ounces produced by the average closing price of gold or silver in each respective year....

We’ve already seen the mass devastation that wildfires can bring, especially in places like Australia, Serbia, and California. But new research by the UN indicates that things might get even worse by the end of the century. By 2100, the frequency of wildfires could increase by up to 50%. What’s causing this influx of wildfires around the world? Below, we dig into how climate change is impacting wildfires—and how in turn, wildfires are impacting climate change....

This annual infographic from Domo captures just how much activity is going on in any given minute, and the amount of data being generated by users. To put it mildly, there’s a lot. The Internet Minute At the heart of the world’s digital activity are the everyday services and applications that have become staples in our lives. Collectively, these produce unimaginable quantities of user activity and associated data. Here are just some of the key figures of what happens in a minute: As these facts show, Big Tech companies have quite the influence over our lives....

From stocks to bonds to alternatives, investors can choose from a wide variety of investment types. The choices can be overwhelming—leaving people to wonder if there’s one investment that consistently outperforms, or if there’s a predictable pattern of performance. This graphic, which is inspired by and uses data from The Measure of a Plan, shows historical returns by asset class for the last 36 years. Asset Class Returns by Year This analysis includes assets of various types, geographies, and risk levels....

How Affluent Millennials are Changing the Finance Industry We previously showed a set of nine charts that show the views of Millennials on debt, banking, and investing. We also recently showed what Millennials want in a first home. Today’s infographic follows a similar thread, looking at the values of the 15.5 million affluent Millennials in the United States, and what the finance industry will have to do to appeal to this group....

How are Silver and Gold Bullion Premiums Calculated? The price paid for each ounce of bullion is composed of the metal’s spot price and the bullion premium. Here’s the price composition of some common rounds: Silver Eagle: 80% spot price / 20% bullion premium Silver Canadian Maple Leaf: 84% spot price / 16% bullion premium Gold Eagle: 96% spot price / 4% bullion premium How are these bullion premiums determined? How can bullion buyers take advantage of the lowest possible premiums?...

However, such predictions also serve a very practical purpose for investors and business leaders, since failing to adapt to changing industry paradigms can completely decimate a business venture, turning it into the next Blockbuster, Kodak, or Sears. Today’s infographic from Futurism rounds up some of the most interesting predictions about the future, from trusted sources such as Scientific American and The National Academy of Sciences. Machines, Big and Small The confluence of robotics, artificial intelligence, and increasing levels of automation is a prevailing trend throughout the projected timeline of future technology....

However, a 5% rise over the course of a month is nothing for gold. Since it began trading freely in 1971, the metal has had dozens of glittering hot streaks that make the start of 2016 look boring in comparison. On the flipside, gold has also had many cold streaks that saw it lose hundreds of dollars of value in just a matter of days. Today’s infographic covers gold’s longest winning and losing streaks....

Mapping the Quality of Life Around the World We have previously posted maps showing the cost of living, monthly disposable income, and what matters most to people in each country in the world. Today’s map on quality of life uses the same concept as well as information from Numbeo, the world’s largest user-generated database on cities and countries. In this case, the Quality of Life Index is generated using actual information from the population rather than government statistics....

That means if you meet someone from the global population at random, there’s a 1 in 200 chance that they could be a millionaire – this makes for surprisingly good odds. However, the billionaire on the other hand is a much rarer breed. According to Forbes, there are just over 2,000 billionaires in existence, making up just 0.00003% of the global population. Where do these people live, and what countries have the highest concentrations of them as citizens?...

In the modern era, the pace of business is fast – but the pace of technological change is even faster. As a result, the landscape of business risks is constantly shifting and changing, and both entrepreneurs and investors need to be on top of the potential factors that could disrupt their chances of success. At the same time, they also need to be prepared to address and mitigate new risks as they crop up....

No matter what city you live in, traffic is something you probably dread being stuck in. Whether it is the slow-moving I-95 in New York City or the molasses-like trip from East Hollywood to Santa Monica in L.A., it’s estimated that traffic congestion costs the United States alone a whopping sum of $300 billion per year in gas and time. The World’s Worst Traffic Which city has the ultimate distinction of having the world’s most horrific traffic?...

The fintech unicorn was just revalued at $9 billion after its latest round of funding led by General Catalyst Partners and CapitalG, the investment arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. The new financing, which almost doubled Stripe’s valuation, occurred despite a general slow-down in venture capital funding over recent months. Why are investors doubling down on Stripe? It’s because the company seems poised to continue revolutionizing online payments, and it’s creating a ripple effect that is spreading throughout the entire e-commerce landscape....

Last year was no exception, and in 2015 the U.S. had over $1.5 trillion in exports while importing $2.2 trillion of goods. The resulting trade deficit was -$735 billion. Today’s map from HowMuch.net, a cost information site, helps put this most recent information into perspective. Keep in mind that a trade deficit also means an outflow of domestic currency to foreign markets, as the U.S. is spending more money abroad than it is bringing in....

This kind of scale is almost impossible to grasp. Here’s one attempt to put it in perspective: imagine Yankee Stadium’s seats packed with 50,000 people, and multiply this by a factor of 40,000. That’s about how many different people log into Facebook every month worldwide. A Smaller Window The Yankee Stadium analogy sort of helps, but it’s still very hard to picture. The scale of the internet is so great, that it doesn’t make sense to look at the information on a monthly basis, or even to use daily figures....

Whether we are talking about an iPhone or a battery, even the most complex technological device is made up of the raw materials that originate in a mine, farm, well, or forest somewhere in the world. Here are the top producing countries for each major commodity worldwide: The above infographic from BullionVault shows the top three producing countries of various commodities such as oil, gold, coffee, or iron. The Many and the Few The origins of the world’s most important raw materials is interesting to examine, because the production of certain commodities are much more concentrated than others....

Japan Officially Gets Leapfrogged by the Four Asian Tigers Throughout the decades in the 1950s and 1960s, the Japanese economy was envied for its unrelenting growth. Dubbed the “Post-War Miracle”, this period of time saw Japan become a global center of manufacturing and exports. Japanese brands such as Toyota, Sony, Honda, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, and Canon would become household names worldwide. By the 1960s, Japan catapulted to become the second largest economy in the world....

Before the COVID-19 outbreak, over half of all professionals globally worked remotely at least 2.5 days a week. This has since increased dramatically, with 88% of organizations now insisting their employees work from home and implement social distancing. Leaders must adapt to a more flexible workplace and create a culture of accountability so that their organization can successfully weather the COVID-19 storm. Leadership Accountability in Uncertain Times Today’s infographic, from bestselling author Vince Molinaro, reveals the five behaviors that leaders can adopt in order to provide thoughtful navigation through uncertainty....