Mapping Stimulus Funds vs. Unemployment

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Monika Bauerlein,
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In "The 'Animal Spirits of Capitalism' Are Devouring Us," Monika Bauerlein writes about our biggest investigation in quite some time: A "stunning exposé," nearly six months in the making, that digs deep into the hidden world of private equity. And with $200,000-plus still to raise by June 30, we hope you'll read about this huge project and, if you can, that you'll help make our work possible with an urgently needed donation.

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ProPublica used a neat data visualization tool called Many Eyes to create the two maps below, which I’ve chopped up a bit so I could fit them on our blog. The top map displays unemployment numbers by state. The bottom map shows stimulus funds by state. As Oregon, Wyoming, and a number of other states illustrate, there is essentially no connection. The amount of stimulus funds a state will get depends on a number of things, not least among them the seniority and committee assignments of that state’s representatives. Apparently “need” isn’t at the top of the list.