> In 1913, exports were roughly 14% of economic activity. Today, it's at 24% Is it as simple as just comparing these two proportions? [let alone the fact that

> In 1913, exports were roughly 14% of economic activity. Today, it's at 24% Is it as simple as just comparing these two proportions? [let alone the fact that comparing proportions is generally a bad idea when there is a difference in absolute quantity/quality between the two samples]. In 1913 a huge proportion of the world’s populations were colonized. The economic activity within these colonies is something that is really hard to compare to today’s situation of global capitalism. I think comparing these proportions is not what your parent had in mind when they stated this, and honestly I don’t think they give a good insight into how global trade was back then compared to today. Aside: Citing our world in data leaves a general distaste in my mouth. They seem to take Hans Rosling’s idea of needing a good visualization to an extreme. Throwing everything but the kitchen sink into these graphs. Missing the fact that a misleading graph can do more damage then a good graph can provide insight.