38 Maps That Explain the Global Economy

Commerce knits the modern world together in a way that nothing else quite does. Almost anything you own these days is the result of a complicated web of global interactions. And there’s no better way to depict those interactions and the social and political circumstances that give rise to them than with a map.

Here are 38 maps that illustrate the major economic themes facing the world today. Some of them focus on the big picture while others illustrate finer details. The overall portrait that emerges is of a world that’s more closely linked than ever before, but still driven by enormous geography-driven differences.

Copyright Matthew Yglesias, Vox Blog.