EXAMPLE 3 High taxes?

Figure 10.4 compares the level of taxation in eight democratic nations. Each democratic nation is a category and each category is described by one value, so a bar graph is a good choice for a graphical display of these data. The heights of the bars show the percentages of each nation’s gross domestic product (GDP, the total value of all goods and services produced) that is taken in taxes. Americans accustomed to complaining about high taxes may be surprised to see that the United States, at 25.4% of GDP, is at the bottom of the group. Notice that a pie chart is not possible for these data because we are displaying eight separate quantities, not the parts of a whole.