Economics Without the Jargon: Stop Showing Me the Chart. Explain What It Means.
There is something increasingly strange about economic communication on social media.
Open X, LinkedIn or any financial feed and you will find them everywhere:
Charts.
Curves.
Inflation indexes.
Bond yields.
PMIs.
Spreads.
Real rates.
Technical indicators.
And often a short sentence underneath:
“This is extremely important.”
But there is a question I think we should ask much more often:
Important to whom?
And another one:
Who actually understands what the chart is saying?
The problem is not economics. The problem is communication.
I have nothing against charts.
I have nothing against economists.
I have nothing against technical analysis.
Professionals need all of these things.
A portfolio manager needs detailed data.
A central bank economist needs sophisticated models.
An investment bank needs research.
A professional investor has Bloomberg, databases, research departments and analytical tools.
They already know how to get the information.
They are not the audience I am talking about.
I am talking about everybody else.
The person who wants to understand why his BMW is more expensive.
Why gasoline costs more.
Why beef is expensive.
Why American farmers are paying more for fertilizer.
Why a war in Iran can affect the price of energy in Florida.
Why China matters.
Why tariffs eventually reach consumers.
That person does not need another complicated chart.
That person needs an explanation.
The Education Gap Matters
There is another reason why economic communication should become simpler.
The United States is a highly educated country, but education and numerical skills are not evenly distributed.
The OECD’s 2023 Survey of Adult Skills found that 28% of American adults aged 16–65 scored at Level 1 or below in literacy.