Harper’s Index

Number of new [Labor|government jobs] created since 2000

Chance that a civilian federal worker is [Jobs|employed] by the [HomelandSecurity|Department of Homeland Security]

Rank of 2002 among fiscal years since [1980s|1980] in which the fewest [Immigration|refugees] entered the United States

Number of [Immigration|refugees] the United States accepted in the last year, expressed as a percentage of the legal maximum

Percentage change since last year in the annual U.S. cap on such visas

Percentage change last year in the number of applications for the most common U.S. [Labor|professional-worker] visas

Chances that a participant in [California|California’s] [September|September] 24 gubernatorial debate grew up speaking [Language|English] at home

Date on which [ArnoldSchwarzenegger|Arnold Schwarzenegger] met with [Enron|Enron] [CEO|CEO] Kenneth Lay to discuss [California|California’s] energy policy

Chance that a mention of [BillClinton|Clinton] was made by Wesley Clark

Number of times they mentioned [BillClinton|Bill Clinton]

used the [Language|word] “jobs‚” in their first four debates after [Labor|Labor Day]

Average percentage of Americans asked to participate in [Polling|Gallup polls] who do

Number of votes he won

Number of citizen reports on file at the [NorthAmerica|North American] Reporting Center for [Animal|Amphibian Malformations]

Average number of gallons of blood spilled to produce one [Fashion|mink coat]

Percentage change since last year in the number of U.S. [Wealth|millionaires]

Percentage change since 2001 in the number of U.S. families in [Poverty|poverty]

Amount by which the number of U.S. [Death|deaths] in 2000 from lack of [Insurance|medical insurance] exceeded those from [AIDS|AIDS]

Factor by which [Medicine|antibiotic] treatment before the age of 6 months increases the chance of developing asthma by age 7

Average price paid per metric ton last [September|September] at the first U.S. auction of [Pollution|carbon-emission] allowances

Factor by which the average price paid on [Europe|Europe]’s open market exceeds this

Percentage change in the price of a share of [Education|Edison Schools] stock since [February|February] 2001

Number of [NewYorkCity|New York City] eighth-graders deemed “proficient‚” on last year’s end-of-[Summer|summer]-school reading exam

Percentage of those who took the test who were promoted to the ninth grade

Number of candidates who ran for a school-board seat in the South [Mississippi|Mississippi] County School District last [Fall|fall]

Percentage of [Iraq|Baghdad’s] citizens asked to participate in a [Polling|Gallup poll] last [September|September] who agreed to do so

Percentage of [Iraq|Iraq’s] [Urban|urban] areas with access to potable water a year ago and today, respectively

Average number of [Iraq|Iraqi] civilians [Death|killed] by [Gun|gunfire] in [Baghdad|Baghdad] each day last [August|August]

Average number [Death|killed]

Average number of [Army|U.S. soldiers] wounded in [Iraq|Iraq] each day since the invasion began

Percentage change since [1990s|1999] in the number of desertions from the [Army|U.S. Army]

Percentage change between 2001 and 2002 in [Toy|G.I. Joe] sales

Estimated number of [Mendacity|artificial] [Christmas|Christmas] [Trees|trees] displayed in [Housing|U.S. homes] each year for every real one

Spending Winston Churchill approved in [1940s|1943] to research [Folly|making an aircraft carrier] out of [Ice|ice] and wood pulp

iles] were assembled in [Cuba|Cuba] under Khrushchev’s order

[Days|Days] after a [1960s|1961] meeting with Khrushchev that [JohnFKennedy|President Kennedy] leaked claims of U.S. [Nuclear|nuclear]-[Missile|missile] superiority

Year in which a [Terrorism|terrorist] threat against “[Holiday|S. Claus],‚” the “Prime Minister‚” of the [NorthPole|North Pole], was declassified by the [CIA|CIA]

Percentage who say this today

Percentage of U.S. [Islam|Muslims] who said in 2000 that they would vote for [GeorgeWBush|George Bush]