A BETTER CONVERGENCE CHART
As a graphic designer friend said, my recent NYT column was marred by "an unfortunate graphic." Based on data I supplied in tabular form, it showed incomes in various regions converging to the national average but didn't show how fast that average was itself rising. The result was that good news looked like bad news.
Thanks to economist Kris Mitchener and the wonders of Excel, I can now supply a better chart. (Unlike the original chart, these numbers don't account for regional price variations; they do show constant dollars, however, using the national GDP deflator.)