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Last Month’s Index
[ December 2008 ]

Harper’s Index

Last Month’s Index
Next Month’s Index
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Percentage that were responded to

: 0.5
December 2008 • Source: Synovate Mail Monitor (N.Y.C.)

Number in which the government ruled in favor of the [WhistleBlower|whistleblower]

: 17
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Department of Labor

Estimated number of professional “union-avoidance consultants‚” currently working in the United States

: 2,000
December 2008 • Source: John Logan, University of California, Berkeley

Percentage change since [1970s|1977] in the size of the U.S. labor force

: +61
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Percentage change since then in the number of federal wage and hour inspectors

: ???21
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division

Average value of defense [Corruption|contracts] that each [Pentagon|Pentagon] auditor was responsible for vetting in 2007

: $2,030,000,000
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General (Arlington, Va.)

Average value each auditor vetted ten years ago

: $642,000,000
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General (Arlington, Va.)

Date on which Sears began selling an “All American Army‚” [Fashion|clothing] line, with royalties paid to the [USMilitary|U.S. military]

: 9/15/08
December 2008 • Source: Sears, Roebuck and Co. (Hoffman Estates, Ill.)

Percentage of U.S. [Christmas|Christmas] [Trees|trees] purchased in 2001 and 2007, respectively, that were [Mendacity|artificial]

: 21, 36
December 2008 • Source: National Christmas Tree Association (Chesterfield, Mo.)

Number of [CreditCards|credit-card] solicitations sent to Americans last year

: 5,200,000,000
December 2008 • Source: Synovate Mail Monitor (N.Y.C.)

Number of complaints filed by corporate [WhistleBlower|whistleblowers] with U.S. workplace-safety officials since 2002

: 1,288
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Department of Labor

Year in which [Cuba|Cuba]’s [Folly|ban] on toasters will be lifted

: 2010
December 2008 • Source: Marc Frank, Reuters (Havana)

Year by which [Computer|computer] server [Agriculture|farms] worldwide are projected to produce more [GlobalWarming|greenhouse gases] than [AirTravel|air travel]

: 2020
December 2008 • Source: McKinsey & Company (N.Y.C.)

Year by which [NewOrleans|New Orleans] is expected to be rebuilt, at the current pace

: 2028
December 2008 • Source: RAND Gulf States Policy Institute (New Orleans)

Number of years that [Internet|Google]’s [CEO|CEO] says it will take the company to achieve its goals

: 300
December 2008 • Source: Google (Mountain View, Calif.)

Number of members in the [Facebook|Facebook] group “I Just HATE [Pakistan|Pakistan]‚”

: 2,973
December 2008 • Source: Facebook (Palo Alto, Calif.)

Number in the group “[Belgium|Belgium] Doesn’t Exist”

: 1,156
December 2008 • Source: Facebook (Palo Alto, Calif.)

Percentage of total [Internet|Internet] site visits in 2004 and today, respectively, that accessed [Pornography|porn]

: 17, 10
December 2008 • Source: Hitwise (San Francisco)

Number of U.S. postage stamps printed in [June|June] whose packaging mistakenly listed a [Telephone|phone]-[Sex|sex] number

: 4,000,000
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Arlington, Va.)

[Telephone|Telephone] number that was printed in place of 1-800-STAMP-24, the number for reordering

: 1-800-TRAMP-24
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Arlington, Va.)

Chance today

: 1 in 8
December 2008 • Source: Fortune (N.Y.C.)

Percentage by which it exceeds the cost of the entire New Deal

: 33
December 2008 • Source: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library (Hyde Park, N.Y.)

Factor by which it exceeds the cost of the [1990s|1990] savings-and-loan bailout

: 3
December 2008 • Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Washington)/Lawrence White, New York University (N.Y.C.)

Minimum number of properties the U.S. government was forced to buy as part of the [S&LCrisis|S&L] bailout

: 43,640
December 2008 • Source: Congressional Information Service (Bethesda, Md.)

Number of churches and athletic clubs, respectively, that this purchase included

: 3, 27
December 2008 • Source: Congressional Information Service (Bethesda, Md.)

Ratio of the funds U.S. [Banking|banks] paid into the [FDIC|FDIC] last year to those they received in ATM fees

: 1:1
December 2008 • Source: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (Washington)/Bankrate.com (North Palm Beach, Fla.)

Percentage of Americans who say they live “[Poverty|paycheck to paycheck]‚”

: 47
December 2008 • Source: CareerBuilder.com (Chicago)

Percentage of those making over [Wealth|$100,000 per year] who say this

: 21
December 2008 • Source: CareerBuilder.com (Chicago)

Percentage of [Business|Fortune 500] companies that own a Web address in which their name is followed by “sucks.com‚”

: 26
December 2008 • Source: FairWinds Partners (Washington)

Chance in 2003 that a [Business|Fortune 500] company was based in an emerging-market country

: 1 in 14
December 2008 • Source: Fortune (N.Y.C.)

Percentage by which the [Corruption|$750 billion bailout] exceeds the total U.S. [GDP|GDP] of a century ago, adjusted for inflation

: 50
December 2008 • Source: Robert Gordon, Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

Amount a [China|Chinese] investor paid in [June|June] to have [Lunch|lunch] with Warren Buffett

: $2,110,000
December 2008 • Source: Glide Foundation (San Francisco)

Number of appearances that a [Thailand|Thai] prime minister made this year as a [Television|TV] chef

: 4
December 2008 • Source: Bangkok Post

Amount he was paid, leading to his ouster in [September|September] for receiving outside income

: $2,300
December 2008 • Source: Bangkok Post

Tons of international [Food|food] aid provided to [Sudan|Sudan] last year

: 548,400
December 2008 • Source: United Nations World Food Programme (Rome)

Estimated tons of [Food|food] [Sudan|Sudan] produces and exports to other countries each year

: 534,000
December 2008 • Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (Rome)

Chance that a person worldwide lacks adequate drinking water due to socioeconomic conditions

: 1 in 6
December 2008 • Source: Water Advocates (Washington)

Estimated portion of all freshwater drawn from U.S. sources each year that is used to cool power plants

: 1/2
December 2008 • Source: U.S. Geological Survey (San Diego)

Percentage of [Business|Fortune 1000] companies that say a water shortage would be “severe‚” or “catastrophic‚” to their business

: 40
December 2008 • Source: Marsh Center for Risk Insights (N.Y.C.)

Percentage that say they have made preparations for such a shortage

: 17
December 2008 • Source: Marsh Center for Risk Insights (N.Y.C.)
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