Harper’s Index

Percentage change since March 2002 in total U.S. corporate profits, as valued in dollars: +39¹

Chances of a U.S. "currency crisis" within five years, according to former Federal Reserve chief Paul Volcker: 3 in 4³

Number of free-trade agreements between developing nations and developed nations in 1990 and today, respectively: 23, 109⁴

Projected change in world income over fifteen years if all developing nations were to enter such deals today: +$112,000,000,000⁵

Projected change, in this scenario, in the total income of developing nations: -$21,500,000,000⁶

Estimated percentage by which the number of automobiles made in Ontario last year exceeded the number made in Detroit: 4⁷

Rank of the United States among the largest world exporters of cigarettes: 1⁸

Rank of the United States among nations that consume the most cigarettes per capita: 16⁹

Number of states where women seeking abortions are required to be told that abortion increases the risk of breast cancer: 3¹⁰

Number of the eighty-nine experts convened in 2003 by the National Cancer Institute who found any evidence of such a link: 1¹¹

Year by which the median full-time wage of a U.S. woman will equal that of a U.S. man, based on current trends: 2050¹²

Estimated change since 1999 in the number of civil-rights complaints reported to the Justice Department: 0¹³

Percentage change since then in the number of civil-rights criminal charges brought by the department: -47¹⁴

Number of black U.S. senators during the entire 1800s, the entire 1900s, and today, respectively: 2, 2, 1¹⁵

Number of copies of Helping Your Child Learn History destroyed by the Department of Education last summer: 338,500¹⁶

Amount that makers of the video game JFK Reloaded will pay the player who best replicates the murder of Kennedy: $100,000¹⁷

Cost of "The Sword," an unmanned robo-soldier equipped with a rifle, machine gun, or rocket launcher: $230,000¹⁸

Number of these devices the U.S. Army plans to deploy in Iraq this spring: 18¹⁹

Ratio in December of the number of U.S. troops in Iraq to the number from Britain, the second-largest contributor: 16:1²⁰

Ratio of the number from Britain to the number from Italy, the third-largest contributor: 3:1²¹

Number of political parties registered for Iraq's national elections scheduled for January: 72²²

Rank of the Vlaams Blok, Belgium's far-right anti-immigration party, among the most popular in Flanders: 1²³

Number of Nicaragua's seventeen regional capitals whose governments are now controlled by the Sandinistas: 14²⁴

Number of U.K. Guardian readers who signed up last fall to write pro-Kerry letters to voters in Clark County, Ohio: 14,000²⁵

Number of Ohio counties besides Clark that switched from backing Al Gore in 2000 to backing President Bush in 2004: 0²⁶

Price a D.C. hotel charges for its "Presidential Privilege 2005" inauguration package, which includes a mink coat: $200,500²⁷

Average total cost for a U.S. eighty-year-old to live out the rest of his or her days on a luxury cruise ship: $230,497²⁸

Average cost to live them out in an assisted-living facility: $228,075²⁹

Estimated number of Florida homeowners who signed contracts last year forbidding them to complain about their homes: 4,000³⁰

Minimum damages sought by a builder last fall against a homeowner who had broken the rule: $15,000³¹

Ratio last year of the amount spent declassifying former U.S. secrets to the amount spent safeguarding others: 1:120³²

Number of children's choir members from Pink Floyd's 1979 hit "Another Brick in the Wall" who are now seeking royalties: 1³³

Estimated amount each member is owed: £150³⁴

Percentage of children who by age seven have had at least one imaginary friend: 65³⁵

Percentage of these friends who are animals: 41³⁶

Number of Britons who have signed a declaration stating they will disobey any ban on fox hunting: 50,000³⁷

Number of foxes eaten by a British performance artist to protest the protests of the proposed ban: 2³⁸

Bail set in December for a Gainesville, Florida, man accused of biting a dog: $25,000³⁹

Page on which the Gainesville Sun ran the story: A1⁴⁰

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