ICON by ICON Magazine

HARPER’S M

INDEX

Facts compiled by the editors of Harper’s Magazine

Percentage of the current U.S. debt that was accumulated during Republican presidential terms: 71 Portion of debt-ceiling elevations since 1960 that have been signed into law by Republican presidents: 2/3 Percentage of profits American corporations paid in taxes in 1961: 40.6 Today: 10.5 Portion of the increase in U.S. corporate profit margins since 2001 that has come from depressed wages: 3/4 Percentage of Americans who say they did not have money to buy food at all times last year: 18.2 Percentage change in the median household wealth of white families since 2005: –16 Of Hispanic families: –66 Number of minors sent back to Mexico by U.S. immigration authorities in 2010: 20,438 Percentage who were sent unaccompanied by an adult: 57 Percentage of the world’s population that could fit in Texas by living with the population density of New York City: 100 Estimated value of government subsidies that will go to the oil and gas industries between now and 2015: $78,155,000,000 Average amount the tooth fairy left for a tooth in 2010, according to a survey by Visa: $3 Average so far in 2011: $2.60 Price for an iPad case made out of Bernie Madoff ’s Polo Ralph Lauren blue chinos: $350 Percentage of millionaires who said in a July survey that they are concerned about global unrest: 94 Percentage of Egyptians who say they want the new government to amend or abandon the Camp David accords: 70 Estimated number of Syrians killed during pro-democracy protests since March: 1,700 Number of people killed in Ecuador since July by bootleg liquor: 35 Portion of the Indian Ocean that is underexplored by scientists because of pirates: 1/4 Amount an unemployed Utah man is charging for the opportunity to hunt and kill him: $10,000 Portion of non-interest federal spending that is dedicated to programs for the elderly: 1/3 Chance that a person will remember something if he thinks he can look it up later: 1 in 5 If he thinks he cannot: 1 in 3 Percentage of U.S. college grades that are A’s: 43 Portion of America’s college students who attend for-profit schools: 1/10 Portion of federal financial aid that goes to such schools: 1/4 Portion of college students who believe alcohol improves their ability to tell jokes: 3/4 Who believe it improves their sexual encounters: 1/3 Percent increase in armed robberies at pharmacies since 2006: 81 Chance that an American fast-food customer uses posted calorie information to make food-buying decisions: 1 in 6 Number of states in which less than 20 percent of adults are obese: 0 Percentage of private-sector workers who believe that public-sector workers receive better benefits: 60 Percentage of public-sector workers who believe this: 44 Percentage of Americans who believe China has passed or will pass the United States as the world’s leading superpower: 46 Percentage of Chinese who do: 63 Of French: 72 Percentage of Americans who say they would vote for a well-qualified homosexual candidate for president: 67 For a well-qualified atheist: 49 Percentage of Americans in a July poll who said they approve of God’s job performance: 52

Index Sources 1 New York Times/Harper’s research; 2 U.S. Department of the Treasury; 3,4 Institute for Policy Studies (Washington); 5 J. P. Morgan (N.Y.C.); 6 Gallup (Washington); 7,8 Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends project (Washington); 9,10 Instituto Nacional de Migración (Mexico City); 11 Tim De Chant, Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.); 12 Taxpayers for Common Sense (Washington); 13 Frederick James (N.Y.C.); 14,15 Visa Inc. (San Francisco); 16 Insite Security (N.Y.C.); 17 Newsweek/Daily Beast (N.Y.C.); 18 Amnesty International USA (N.Y.C.) 19 Ministerio de Salud Pública (Quito, Ecuador); 20 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (Hobart, Australia); 21 Mork Encino (Utah); 22 National Center for Policy Analysis (Dallas); 23,24 Betsy Sparrow, Columbia University (N.Y.C.); 25 Stuart Rojstaczer (Point Reyes Station, Calif.); 26,27 The College Board (N.Y.C.); 28,29 Kevin King, University of Washington (Seattle); 30 U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; 31 BMJ (London); 32 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Atlanta); 33,34 Reason Magazine (Los Angeles); 35–37 Pew Global Attitudes Project (Washington); 38,39 Gallup (Washington); 40 Public Policy Polling (Raleigh, N.C.).

NOVEMBER 2011

ICON