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Communicating Budgetary and Economic Information With Style at CBO
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is an independent agency that provides objective budgetary and economic analysis to the U.S. Congress, including baseline projections, cost estimates, and analyses of federal programs. CBO employs a nonpartisan staff and has evolved its report production and graphics to enhance clarity and accessibility. The agency focuses on the next 10 to 20 years in its projections without making policy recommendations or enforcing budget rules.
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Similar to Communicating Budgetary and Economic Information With Style at CBO
Communicating Budgetary and Economic Information With Style at CBO
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- 2. 1CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE What We Are ■ CBO is a United States government agency that was created by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974. ■ It provides analysis of budgetary and economic issues that is objectiveand impartial to the U.S. Congress. The agency is strictly nonpartisan.
- 3. 2CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Who We Are ■ The Director is appointed jointly by the Speaker of the House and President pro tempore of the Senate. ■CBO has about 235 employees (most with advanced degrees), who are hired solely on the basis of professional competence, without regard to political affiliation.
- 4. 3CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE What We Provide to the Congress ■ Baseline budget projections and economic forecasts covering the 10‐year period used in the Congressional budget process ■Long‐term budget projections ■ Cost estimates for legislation, including analyses of federal mandates ■ Scorekeeping for enacted legislation ■ Analysis of the President’s budget (including its likely economic effects and their budgetary feedback) ■ Analytic reports examining specific federal programs, aspects of the tax code, and budgetary and economic challenges
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- 6. 5CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE What We Do Not Do ■ Make policy recommendations ■ Write legislation ■Implement programs or regulations ■ Enforce budget rules ■ Evaluate historical performance of government programs
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- 8. 7CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Publishing Reports at CBO ■ Publishing high‐quality content is a demanding job, particularly so because the agency is small. ■ Reports entering production are often on a tight schedule. ■Accuracy and speed are essential. ■ Products range from stand‐alone graphics to full reports.
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- 13. 12CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Graphics ■ Graphics are created for reports. Many are repurposed to be used in other publications related to the same topic; some stand alone. ■ Possible formats: –Website home page announcement of report release; the report landing page – Blog post – Slide deck – Presentation – Infographic – Snapshot – Conference poster Sample Snapshot
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- 16. 15CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Less Is More 2010 2016 ■ Gray color for numbers and supporting text ■Lighter gray for recession bars ■ Smaller point sizes for titles ■ No parentheses around units of measure ■ All notes (including Source) flush left; the word “Notes” gone ■ Introduction of captions where useful What changed? ■ Color used meaningfully ■ Data plotted annually instead of quarterly when possible ■ Upper and right border lines gone ■ No minor tick marks; shorter, less prominent tick marks ■ Smaller point sizes for type ■ Gray color for axis lines and Actual/Projected line
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- 18. 17CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Color Is Key ■ Use of color must have meaning within a report ■ Colors must map to shades of gray that make elements of a graphic in close proximity easily distinguishable when printed in black and white Blue= spending Green = revenues Purple = debt Orange = anything else Informal Conventions
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- 26. 25CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Who for What? ■ Content specialists ■ Editors ■Graphic artists ■ Internal and independent reviewers ■ Production specialists ■ Proofreaders ■ Web specialists
- 27. 26CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Bibliography The list below provides links to a few of the people and organizations that have in some way influenced the direction and growth of our graphics initiative: ■ The Economist, http://economist.com ■ The Dallas Morning News Graphics Stylebook, https://knightcenter.utexas.edu/mooc/file/tdmn_graphics.pdf ■PolicyViz, http://policyviz.com/ ■ The Knight Center, knightcenter.utexas.edu/ ■ Stephen Few, www.perceptualedge.com/ ■ The New York Times, flowingdata.com/tag/new‐york‐times/ ■ Mark Simonson, www.marksimonson.com/fonts/view/proxima‐nova ■ Edward Tufte, www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/ Congressional Budget Office, www.cbo.gov