Here’s what $3 trillion looks like

That’s the total expected cost of the Iraq war, according to Joseph Stiglitz. How can you even grasp such gigantic numbers, which are thrown around daily to quantify government debt, the credit crisis and international policy measures?  To help, graphic designer David McCandless created this animation in the format of the game Tetris:

McCandless’ data sources are available here. He recently produced a book entitled Information Is Beautiful in the UK and The Visual Miscellaneum in the US.