I love the design concept behind this.
Easy to read visualisations, giving a clearer picture of proportions and government priorities on spending, which can be refined down to local levels.


BBC Article:

Online tools can now help citizens curious about what their taxes are being spent on.

The Where Does My Money Go website has combined spending figures with visualisation tools to show how the cash is divided.

The data can be explored through a series of maps, timelines and graphs.

Created by the Open Knowledge Foundation, it brings together figures since 2003 that are currently held by many official departments and agencies.

"We know that transparency changes individual and institutional behaviour and this new tool will have a big impact on the way the public sector is held to account by UK citizens," said Labour MP Tom Watson in a statement.

While the US has legislation that requires government departments and agencies to put spending figures in one place, the UK has no such laws.

As a result, said the Open Knowledge Foundation, "spending figures often require background knowledge to interpret and can be hard put into context".

The initial site has been put together with figures from HM Treasury but, said the Foundation, it was working to include numbers from many more sources to make it more comprehensive. Eventually visitors will be able to drill down to find out spending at local levels.

By crunching the numbers, the Foundation discovered some interesting facts.

For instance, it said total public spending was now at a level last seen during the recession of 1992.

It also noticed a big rise in environmental spending since 2006 in the northwest of England, which it found was down to increases in the costs of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. This spending has risen by up to £1bn per year.

Article source:

Pretty "Flashy"

Pretty revealing.

The US spends more on defense in a couple of weeks than Britain does in a year. If the US had the same priorities as Britain, we could provide insurance and social protection to everyone who needs it and still have enough left to buy them all a Benz.

the US spends more than every other country COMBINED. that is only appropriate for an EMPIRE. it is not appropriate for a nation that proposes to be part of the global community.

we should cut our defense budget by at least 50% probably 75% would be more appropriate for a nation in our condition.

It's the amount you must spend on your military when it is used to access and keep markets open. The US has always been much like the early Mafia who charged protection money from fruit cart vendors at the turn of the 20th century.

The robber barons thrive.