Index Archive

Percentage change since 2010 in the per-pound cost of a Thanksgiving turkey

: +22

Portion of the total U.S. corn crop that goes to make ethanol

: 2/5

Estimated number of chickens killed after a drunk man accidentally shut off power at a Maryland poultry farm in August

: 70,000

Average number of square miles by which Arctic sea ice decreased each day this summer

: 36,400

Date on which it reached its lowest size on record

: 9/16/2012

Estimated number of gallons of raw sewage spilled off the coast of Tijuana following an August pipeline break

: 5,000,000

Amount three New York men owe in restitution for stealing rock lobsters off the coast of South Africa

: $54,900,000

Amount the U.S. Department of Education spent on loan collection and guarantees last year

: $1,400,000,000

Factor by which employee claims of wage and hour violations have increased in the past decade

: 3.5

Portion of U.S. workers age 50 or above who plan to delay retirement because of the financial crisis

: 1/2

Projected worldwide surplus of low-skill workers by 2020

: 93,000,000

Projected worldwide deficit of high- and medium-skill workers by that time

: 85,000,000

Portion of the French who are pessimistic about the future

: 7/10

Estimated amount Ireland spent on paperless balloting machines

: $70,000,000

Amount for which it sold the machines as scrap in June, after abandoning paperless balloting

: $92,218

Portion of Germans who think they’d be better off without the euro

: 1/2

Rank of China among global beer producers by volume

: 1

Rank of the United States

: 2

Value of Chinese acquisitions of U.S. assets and businesses in the past year

: $7,700,000,000

Portion of people residing outside the United States who say they like American pop culture

: 2/3

Who say it’s a “good” thing that American ideas and customs are spreading

: 1/4

Percentage of Americans in 1992 who believed gun laws should be stricter

: 78

Percentage who believe so today

: 43

Number of states that restrict men who father children through rape from obtaining parental rights

: 20

Percentage change since 1988 in U.S. teen-pregnancy rates

: ???36

In abstinence rates among white teens

: +31

Among black teens

: +56

Percentage of Americans with HIV who are over the age of 45

: 50

Factor by which U.S. cases of West Nile virus have increased since the virus was first detected here in 1999

: 51

Factor by which U.S. Muslims are more likely than Muslims abroad to think there are multiple interpretations of Islam

: 2

Percentage of Democrats who have an “unfavorable” opinion of Muslims

: 29

Percentage of Republicans who do

: 57

Rank of “I don’t know” among the most common answers Republicans give when asked why black voters support Democrats

: 1

Rank of “government dependents” want “something for nothing”

: 2

Percentage of Ohio Republicans who say Obama is more responsible than Romney for the death of Osama bin Laden

: 38

Who say Romney is more responsible than Obama

: 15

Who say they aren’t sure which man is more responsible

: 47

Number of “known cracks and breaks” in the dome of the U.S. Capitol building

: 1,300

Portion of Americans who don’t walk for at least ten continuous minutes at any point in an average week

: 2/5

Harper’s Index

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