A chart’s empty space can argue as loudly as its numbers.

What a chart leaves out shapes your reading as much as what it shows. Where the axis begins, which years are included, what comparison is absent. A truncated scale turns a mild trend into a cliff, and a well-chosen start date can make almost any line go the direction its author prefers.

Before reacting to a graph, look at the axes and the range of dates. Ask what the picture would look like with more history included. If a chart is doing strong emotional work, the framing is usually where the work is being done.