Speak Softly and Carry Big Statistics

In 1901, President Theodore Roosevelt introduced his new military strategy with the phrase, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Meaning, peaceful negotiation is much more effective when you have a more intimidating alternative (in Teddy’s case, a strong military). Roosevelt’s “big stick diplomacy” allowed him to negotiate a peace treaty between Russia and Japan, ceasing the war among the two nations. In 1906, five years into his presidency, Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for using his big stick philosophy to end the Russo-Japanese war.

Enter StatisNostics, which will allow you, like Roosevelt, to carry a big stick. The database uses U.S. government census data to provide information about the real estate market, government spending, public safety, schooling, economics, health statistics, demographics, and even the climate of any city/town in America. Whether simply researching a city or relocating altogether, StatisNostics helps users make knowledgeable judgments when it comes to moving around the U.S. 

For example, if you’re shopping for houses, StatisNostics can provide baseline info about a town like the median home value and listing price, but it can also tell you the spending pressure, tax liability per resident, and even how many times you’ll buy your house over again paying property taxes. 

With the site’s metric maps, you can access color-coded U.S. maps that show everything from average monthly rent to the projected population in 2080. The level of specificity in the maps’ statistics can be adjusted to user preference— spanning from states, cities/towns, all the way down to the zip code. StatisNostics’s insights grid, not only allows you to gather data from a specific area in the U.S., but also export the information to a pre-organized spreadsheet for convenient viewing.

StatisNostics Metric Map displaying America’s projected population in the year 2080 (according to the SSP5 model).

Scottish poet Andrew Lang compared politicians’ use of statistics to how “a drunken man uses lamp posts— for support rather than illumination.” StatisNostics provides a sober source of illumination to light users’ paths when identifying trends, evaluating a city’s assets, and conducting evidence-based analysis.

Overall, StatisNostics will equip you to quietly conduct your own version of Roosevelt’s ideology. When it comes to making strategic decisions, it helps to have a big stick, or rather big statistics, to back them up.

Cover Photo Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto