We're looking for a change in slope based on overarching economic policy as a means of comparing two political parties. A global disaster is not a policy.
Yes, but as a person with good number sense I am pretty good at discounting absolute levels for population change, and I feel like most people aren't any good at that, so I like to mention it. The majority of press articles that are about "[[Thing]] hits record high" turn out to lose their novelty when recast per capita.