Scaling down problems to aid comprehension

[dsrtao]

http://terrytao.wordpress.com/2009/05/04/the-federal-budget-rescaled/

It may be an oversimplification, but it seems to me to give a much better intuitive handle on the numbers.

Comments

[robertdfeinman.livejournal.com]

You might like this graphic as well. It has to do with wealth not the budget, but it tries to scale numbers as well.
http://www.lcurve.org/

I think you navigate by zooming both in and out