Getting the Picture

Whether you’re reading about economics in the Wall Street Journal or in your economics textbook, you will see many graphs. Visual presentations can make it much easier to understand verbal descriptions, numerical information, or ideas. In economics, graphs are the type of visual presentation used to facilitate understanding. To fully understand the ideas and information being discussed, you need to know how to interpret these visual aids. This module explains how graphs are constructed and interpreted and how they are used in economics.