The Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) is a monthly survey-based measure of how U.S. households assess current business and labor market conditions and their expectations for the next six months. It sits alongside the University of Michigan’s Index of Consumer Sentiment,…
Why the Consumer Confidence Index Is a Sentiment Measure, Not a Prediction
The Consumer Confidence Index, or CCI, comes out every month from The Conference Board. It gets quoted constantly in U.S. policy reporting. It also gets misread constantly. The index is a sentiment measure. It captures what surveyed households say they…
How to Visualize Demographic Change Over Time Responsibly
Demographic change is the measurable shift in a population’s size, age structure, geographic distribution, or composition over a defined period. It sits at the intersection of economic policy, public opinion, and civic data because nearly every long-term policy question—pension solvency,…
Why Cumulative Charts Hide the Timing of Change That Matters
January 2022. A major news outlet pushes a stacked area chart of cumulative U.S. COVID-19 cases to its front page. The visual reads as catastrophe—a near-vertical wall climbing toward 80 million. Engagement spikes. The chart is actively misleading readers about…
Visualizing Demographic Change Without Distortion: A Guide to Responsible Charting
Why Demographic Data Demands Restraint Demographic change is a slow, cumulative process. Birth rates shift over decades. Migration patterns rebalance across census cycles. Yet the charts we encounter in news reports and policy briefs often compress these gradual trends into…