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Last Month’s Index
[ April 2008 ]

Harper’s Index

Last Month’s Index
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Percentage change since [July|July] in the number of U.S. [Media|newspaper] articles each month using the word “recession‚”

: +1,300
April 2008 • Source: Harper's research

Chances that an American believes the [Economy|economy] is in a [Recession|recession]

: 3 in 5
April 2008 • Source: Ipsos (Washington)

Number of copies [Business|sold] of [BarackObama|Barack Obama]’s two [Literature|books] since [January|January]

: 94,000
April 2008 • Source: Nielsen BookScan USA (White Plains, N.Y.)

Rank of [JohnMcCain|John McCain] among the most [RepublicanParty|conservative]-[Democracy|voting] [Senate|senators] in 2001 and 2007, respectively

: 45, 8
April 2008 • Source: Keith Poole, University of California, San Diego

Percentage change between 2001 and 2007 in the number of instances per year

: +76
April 2008 • Source: Harper's research

Number of times that U.S. [Media|media] have called [JohnMcCain|John McCain] a “[folly|maverick]‚” since [1990s|1995]

: 6,757
April 2008 • Source: Harper's research

Total amount that [BarackObama|Barack Obama] and [HillaryClinton|Hillary Clinton] have given to the campaigns of [DemocraticParty|Democratic] “superdelegates‚”

: $1,601,925
April 2008 • Source: Center for Responsive Politics (Washington)

Number of [Ohio|Ohio]’s five [Democracy|voting]-machine systems that had “critical security failures‚” in a state-commissioned study

: 5
April 2008 • Source: Ohio Secretary of State (Columbus)

Last year that the population of the [Nebraska|Nebraska] Panhandle was as low as it is today

: 1930
April 2008 • Source: U.S. Census Bureau (Suitland, Md.)/Harper's research

Chances that a U.S. county has seen its population decline since 2000

: 2 in 5
April 2008 • Source: Kenneth M. Johnson, University of New Hampshire (Durham)

Percentage of Americans [Ignorance|who believe] that their home is still [Housing|gaining in value]

: 55
April 2008 • Source: Boston Consulting Group

Percentage change last year in the number of Americans declaring personal [Bankruptcy|bankruptcy]

: +40
April 2008 • Source: National Bankruptcy Research Center (Burlingame, Calif.)

Number of the systems that have been removed from operation

: 0
April 2008 • Source: Ohio Secretary of State (Columbus)

Estimated portion of worldwide [Immigration|immigration] that is into Second or [DevelopingNations|Third World] nations

: 2/5
April 2008 • Source: Migration Policy Institute (Washington)

Factor by which the increase in income inequality in developed nations since [1980s|1981] has exceeded that in [DevelopingNations|developing nations]

: 2
April 2008 • Source: The World Bank (Washington)/International Monetary Fund (Washington)

Percentage of its taco shells that Taco Bell [Mexico|Mexico] imports from the United States

: 100
April 2008 • Source: Yum! Brands, Inc. (Louisville, Ky.)

Number of consecutive months that sales at [McDonalds|McDonald’s] franchises have increased

: 57
April 2008 • Source: McDonald's Corporation (Oak Brook, Ill.)

Chances that a U.S. [PublicSchools|public school] accepts [Advertising|advertising] from [Business|corporations] that sell [Obesity|junk food]

: 2 in 3
April 2008 • Source: Commercialism in Education Research Unit (Tempe, Ariz.)

Chances that these [Education|schools] wind up receiving no income from the [Advertising|advertisements]

: 3 in 4
April 2008 • Source: Commercialism in Education Research Unit (Tempe, Ariz.)

Shelf life, in years, of a [Germany|German] company’s “Cheeseburger in a Can‚”

: 1
April 2008 • Source: Trekking Mahlzeiten (M?rfelden-Walldorf, Germany)

Estimated number of bacteria transferred to a dip via “double-dipping,‚” according to a Clemson University study

: 2,750
April 2008 • Source: Paul L. Dawson, Clemson University (Clemson, S.C.)

Prize that a [Britain|British] [Science|scientist] is offering to anyone who breeds and raises a “Methuselah mouse‚” that lives five years

: $660
April 2008 • Source: Aubrey de Grey, Methuselah Foundation (Lorton, Va.)

Membership price for [Science|ScientificMatch].com, a dating site that recommends mates based on genetic compatibility

: $1,995
April 2008 • Source: ScientificMatch.com (Naples, Fla.)

Minimum number of JDate.com members whose accounts were paid for by their [Judaism|rabbis]

: 40
April 2008 • Source: Spark Networks (Beverly Hills, Calif.)

Average percentage by which the income of an [Ugliness|attractive] [AmericanMen|American man] differs from the mean

: +4
April 2008 • Source: Daniel Hamermesh, University of Texas at Austin

Average by which the income of an [Ugliness|ugly] [AmericanMen|American man] does

: ???13
April 2008 • Source: Daniel Hamermesh, University of Texas at Austin

Estimated amount that Americans spend on [Sport|yoga] each year

: $6,000,000,000
April 2008 • Source: Yoga Journal (San Francisco)

[Minutes|Minutes] it took the IPO of an [India|Indian] power company in [January|January] to become oversubscribed with investors

: 1
April 2008 • Source: Reliance Power (Mumbai)

Rank that next year’s giving goal of [BillGates|Bill Gates]’s foundation would hold on the Forbes 400 if it were a person

: 91
April 2008 • Source: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (Seattle)/Forbes magazine (N.Y.C.)

Amount it would have cost him to win the nomination at this rate, expressed as a percentage of [BillGates|Bill Gates]’s net worth

: 97
April 2008 • Source: Forbes magazine (N.Y.C.)/Republican National Committee (Washington)

Amount that [RudolphGiuliani|Rudy Giuliani]’s campaign spent to win a single [RepublicanParty|Republican] delegate

: $48,000,000
April 2008 • Source: U.S. Federal Election Commission

Estimated number of wild [NewYorkCity|New York City] [Pigeon|pigeons] illegally caught and [Business|sold] to shooting clubs each year

: 144,000
April 2008 • Source: Bird Operations Busted (N.Y.C.)

Average number of pounds of waste produced by a [Pigeon|pigeon] each year

: 26
April 2008 • Source: Daniel Haag-Wackernagel, University of Basel

Number of actual [Murder|homicides] last year in [Manhattan|Manhattan]

: 69
April 2008 • Source: NYPD CompStat Unit (N.Y.C.)

Minimum number of [Murder|homicides] committed in the last full seasons of the three Law & Order [Television|TV] shows

: 83
April 2008 • Source: Harper's research/Law & Order: Criminal Intent (N.Y.C.)

Number of the five top-grossing U.S. [Cinema|films] last year that were the third or higher installment in a series

: 4
April 2008 • Source: Box Office Mojo, LLC (Burbank, Calif.)

Rank that the sales of 2007’s top album nationwide would have given it on the 2000 list

: 14
April 2008 • Source: Nielsen SoundScan (N.Y.C.)

Number of Grammys won to date by [BarackObama|Barack Obama] and [Radiohead|Radiohead], respectively

: 2, 2
April 2008 • Source: The Recording Academy (Santa Monica, Calif.)

Factor by which this exceeds the total sales of the seventeen [Literature|books] by [HillaryClinton|Hillary Clinton], [JohnMcCain|John McCain], and Mike Huckabee

: 4
April 2008 • Source: Nielsen BookScan USA (White Plains, N.Y.)
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