1. I am frustrated by the legend which has proceeds up linearly from low to high, then loops down to very high at the bottom. Edit: nevermind, I’m just confused by the legend being jumbled.

2. As others have stated, the graph doesn’t seem to demonstrate causality. Seems like if you flipped the independent and dependent variables, it might look like a function (ie, highly developed countries facilitate more R&D, versus more R&D facilitates high development)

That being said, history does point to innovations and development being the egg and highly developed nations the chicken. With that historical context in mind, maybe this graph shows raw $$$ amount spent on innovation as of today isn’t the best predictor, as shown by the massive column of low-high developed nations which seem to have no correlation with R&D and Development