6/86Amount Mexico has borrowed abroad since 1974: $97,000,000,000

“The Mexican Debt Crisis,” an unpublished paper by James S. Henry (Bronxville, N.Y.)

    Value of investments and deposits made abroad by Mexicans since 1974: $90,300,000,000

“The Mexican Debt Crisis,” an unpublished paper by James S. Henry (Bronxville, N.Y.)

6/86Tons of hair Poland exports annually to West Germany in exchange for barber equipment: 100

Wall Street Journal

6/86Percentage increase in trade between China and the Soviet Union in 1985: 45

Rock Creek Research (Washington, DC.)

6/86Shipments of hazardous materials made in the United States each day: 500,000

U.S. Office of Technology Assessment

    Portion of all vehicles carrying hazardous materials that are incorrectly labeled: 1/4

U.S. Office of Technology Assessment

6/86Number of Americans who were tested for drug use by urinalysis in 1985: 4,500,000

National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (Washington, DC.)

6/86Percentage of the federal income taxes paid by individuals in 1981 that went to military programs: 45.5

“The Military Tax Bite 1986,” by Paul Murphy (Military Spending Research Services, Washington, D.C.)

    Percentage in 1986: 51.4

“The Military Tax Bite 1986,” by Paul Murphy (Military Spending Research Services, Washington, D.C.)

6/86Amount the Reagan Administration has budgeted for military bands in 1987: $154,200,000

U.S. Congressional Arts Caucus

    Amount it has budgeted for the National Endowment for the Arts: $144,900,000

U.S. Office of Management and Budget

6/86Number of pornographic videocassettes released each week: 100

Al Goldstein (Screw magazine)

6/86Number of videocassettes rented in 1985: 1,200,000,000

Fairfield Group (Stamford, Conn.)

6/86Number of books checked out from public libraries in 1985: 1,197,000,000

U.S. Department of Education

6/86Percentage of total movie industry revenues derived from theatrical distribution in 1978: 80

Goldman Sachs Research (New York City)

    In 1985: 43

Goldman Sachs Research (New York City)

6/86Number of New York City police officers who are members of the Screen Actors Guild: 350

New York City Police Department

6/86Portion of the domestic TV market held by American manufacturers: 3/4

U.S. Department of Commerce

6/86Percentage of 1984 corporate R&D funded by the government in Japan: 1.8

Gary Saxonhouse (University of Michigan)

    In the United States: 32.3

Gary Saxonhouse (University of Michigan)

6/86Percentage change in Chrysler’s profit in 1985: -31.3

Chrysler Corporation (Detroit)

    In Lee Iacocca’s salary and benefits: +35

United Auto Workers (Detroit)

6/86Number of schools that have invited Lee Iacocca to speak at their graduations: 150

Lee Iacocca

    Number that have invited Mario Cuomo: 160

Mario Cuomo

6/86Estimated percentage of diplomas that are printed on sheepskin: 3

Jostens (Minneapolis, Minn.)

6/86Estimated number of Americans who have counterfeit diplomas or credentials: 500,000

U.S. House Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care

6/86Chances that a physician is an impostor: 1 in 50

U.S. House Subcommittee on Health and Long Term Care

6/86Chances that a resident of Washington, D.C., is a lawyer: 1 in 25

American Bar Association (Chicago)

6/86Percentage of claims paid by insurance companies that are awarded by juries: 2

National Insurance Consumer Organization (Alexandria, Va.)

6/86Number of people who died in 1985 as a result of “telephone-related” injuries: 11,000

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

6/86Number of people who try unsuccessfully to get President Reagan on the telephone each year: 175,000

White House

6/86Rank of France, Italy, and England among destinations of congressional fact-finding trips: 1,2,3

Public Citizen’s Congress Watch (Washington, D.C.)

6/86Percentage increase in Atlantic City’s crime rate since gambling was legalized there in 1978: 275

Atlantic City Police Department

6/86Number of weddings performed each day in 1985 at Las Vegas’s Little Church of the West: 163

Little Church of the West (Las Vegas)

6/86Average duration of an American marriage (in years): 9.4

U.S. Census Bureau

6/86Percentage of Americans who say that good sex is “very important” to a successful marriage: 75

Gallup (Princeton, N.J.)/Council for Applied Research in the Apostolate (Washington, D.C.)

    Percentage of West Germans who say this: 52

Gallup (Princeton, N.J.)/Council for Applied Research in the Apostolate (Washington, D.C.)

6/86Number of people who have barreled over Niagara Falls and survived: 7

Niagara Falls Chamber of Commerce

6/86Plastic pink flamingos sold in the United States in 1985: 450,000

Harper’s research

6/86Percentage of Americans who say they have never heard the word “yuppie”: 39

Roper Organization (New York City)