Beyond helping discover new understandings amidst a profoundly complicated world where too much data creates a problem of scaling, a great visualization can help create a shared view of a situation and align people on needed action.

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For instance, in a 2010 paper based on 2007 data, my Tax Policy Center colleague Ben Harris found that scaling back the MID would lower prices significantly.

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Another barrier would be scaling the process so that the self-assembled nanoscale data grids could be stamped onto a surface automatically.

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