It's easy to lie with a chart. Not setting the axis at 0 is one thing I sometimes see. There are other mistakes that you can make that will confuse readers.
Here's a list of tips for creating charts that was posted on the Worthwhile Canadian Initiative, a mainly Canadian economics blog. It's a good list and I wish I had it when I was working at the TSX.
It's also a good list of things to look for in charts that you may see in news articles. If the chart makes some of the mistakes outlined in the article, it may be that the authors are trying to mislead you.
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