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Last Month’s Index
[ October 2011 ]

Harper’s Index

Last Month’s Index
Next Month’s Index
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Portion of debt-ceiling elevations since 1960 that have been signed into law by Republican presidents

: 2/3
October 2011 • Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury

Portion of federal financial aid that goes to such schools

: 1/4
October 2011 • Source: The College Board (N.Y.C.)

Portion of America’s college students who attend for-profit schools

: 1/10
October 2011 • Source: The College Board (N.Y.C.)

Percentage of U.S. college grades that are A’s

: 43
October 2011 • Source: Stuart Rojstaczer (Point Reyes Station, Calif.)

If he thinks he cannot

: 1 in 3
October 2011 • Source: Betsy Sparrow, Columbia University (N.Y.C.)

Chance that a person will remember something if he thinks he can look it up later

: 1 in 5
October 2011 • Source: Betsy Sparrow, Columbia University (N.Y.C.)

Portion of non-interest federal spending that is dedicated to programs for the elderly

: 1/3
October 2011 • Source: National Center for Policy Analysis (Dallas)

Amount an unemployed Utah man is charging for the opportunity to hunt and kill him

: $10,000
October 2011 • Source: Mork Encino (Utah)

Portion of the Indian Ocean that is underexplored by scientists because of pirates

: 1/4
October 2011 • Source: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Hobart, Australia)

Number of people killed in Ecuador since July by bootleg liquor

: 35
October 2011 • Source: Ministerio de Salud P?blica (Quito, Ecuador)

Estimated number of Syrians killed during pro-democracy protests since March

: 1,700
October 2011 • Source: Amnesty International USA (N.Y.C.)

Percentage of Egyptians who say they want the new government to amend or abandon the Camp David accords

: 70
October 2011 • Source: Newsweek/Daily Beast (N.Y.C.)

Percentage of millionaires who said in a July survey that they are concerned about global unrest

: 94
October 2011 • Source: Insite Security (N.Y.C.)

Price for an iPad case made out of Bernie Madoff’s Polo Ralph Lauren blue chinos

: $350
October 2011 • Source: Frederick James (N.Y.C.)

Average amount the tooth fairy left for a tooth in 2010, according to a survey by Visa

: $3
October 2011 • Source: Visa Inc. (San Francisco)

Average so far in 2011

: $2.60
October 2011 • Source: Visa Inc. (San Francisco)

Percentage of the current U.S. debt that was accumulated during Republican presidential terms

: 71
October 2011 • Source: New York Times/Harper's research

Percentage of profits American corporations paid in taxes in 1961

: 40.6
October 2011 • Source: Institute for Policy Studies (Washington)

Today

: 10.5
October 2011 • Source: Institute for Policy Studies (Washington)

Portion of the increase in U.S. corporate profit margins since 2001 that has come from depressed wages

: 3/4
October 2011 • Source: J. P. Morgan (N.Y.C.)

Percentage of Americans who say they did not have money to buy food at all times last year

: 18.2
October 2011 • Source: Gallup (Washington)

Percentage change in the median household wealth of white families since 2005

: ???16
October 2011 • Source: Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends project (Washington)

Of Hispanic families

: ???66
October 2011 • Source: Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends project (Washington)

Number of minors sent back to Mexico by U.S. immigration authorities in 2010

: 20,438
October 2011 • Source: Instituto Nacional de Migraci?n (Mexico City)

Percentage who were sent unaccompanied by an adult

: 57
October 2011 • Source: Instituto Nacional de Migraci?n (Mexico City)

Percentage of the world’s population that could fit in Texas by living with the population density of New York City

: 100
October 2011 • Source: Tim De Chant, Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)

Estimated value of government subsidies that will go to the oil and gas industries between now and 2015

: $78,155,000,000
October 2011 • Source: Taxpayers for Common Sense (Washington)

Percentage of Americans in a July poll who said they approve of God’s job performance

: 52
October 2011 • Source: Public Policy Polling (Raleigh, N.C.)

For a well-qualified atheist

: 49
October 2011 • Source: Gallup (Washington)

Percentage of Americans who say they would vote for a well-qualified homosexual candidate for president

: 67
October 2011 • Source: Gallup (Washington)

Of French

: 72
October 2011 • Source: Pew Global Attitudes Project (Washington)

Percentage of Chinese who do

: 63
October 2011 • Source: Pew Global Attitudes Project (Washington)

Percentage of Americans who believe China has passed or will pass the United States as the world’s leading superpower

: 46
October 2011 • Source: Pew Global Attitudes Project (Washington)

Percentage of public-sector workers who believe this

: 44
October 2011 • Source: Reason Magazine (Los Angeles)

Percentage of private-sector workers who believe that public-sector workers receive better benefits

: 60
October 2011 • Source: Reason Magazine (Los Angeles)

Number of U.S. states in which less than 20 percent of adults are obese

: 0
October 2011 • Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta)

Chance that an American fast-food customer uses posted calorie information to make food-buying decisions

: 1 in 6
October 2011 • Source: BMJ (London)

Percent increase in armed robberies at pharmacies since 2006

: 81
October 2011 • Source: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

Who believe it improves their sexual encounters

: 1/3
October 2011 • Source: Kevin King, University of Washington (Seattle)

Portion of college students who believe alcohol improves their ability to tell jokes

: 3/4
October 2011 • Source: Kevin King, University of Washington (Seattle)
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