Facts That Make a Difference
1. CHINA ON THE MOVE - Since 2005, China has moved from the world’s 7th largest economy to the 3rd largest today. China has passed Italy, then France, then the UK, and most recently Germany. Only the economies of Japan and the US are larger (source: The Economist).
2. BIG FIND - An oil field believed to contain 500 million barrels of recoverable oil (i.e., the field may be as large as 3 billion barrels in size) has been discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. The field is 250 miles southeast of Houston and sits 6 miles below the gulf’s sea bed (source: Financial Times).
3. LESS WORK - There were 14.9 million unemployed Americans as of the end of August 2009, not counting an additional 9.1 million individuals that are working part-time today only because they have been unable to find full-time employment. The number of Americans that fall into this part-time worker category has increased by 3.3 million in the last 12 months (source: Department of Labor).
4. TIME OFF - The average worker in France is provided 3 times the number of vacation days per year (38) that an average American worker receives (13) (source: Harris Interactive).
5. CUTBACKS - During the current nationwide recession, the state of California has laid off 27,000 teachers (source: Wall Street Journal).
6. TAX FREE - Alaska is the only state in the US that does not have a state income tax and does not have any state sales tax. New Hampshire does not have a state income tax but does tax dividend and interest income that exceeds $4,800 (for joint filers), while also avoiding any state sales tax (source: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance).
2. BIG FIND - An oil field believed to contain 500 million barrels of recoverable oil (i.e., the field may be as large as 3 billion barrels in size) has been discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. The field is 250 miles southeast of Houston and sits 6 miles below the gulf’s sea bed (source: Financial Times).
3. LESS WORK - There were 14.9 million unemployed Americans as of the end of August 2009, not counting an additional 9.1 million individuals that are working part-time today only because they have been unable to find full-time employment. The number of Americans that fall into this part-time worker category has increased by 3.3 million in the last 12 months (source: Department of Labor).
4. TIME OFF - The average worker in France is provided 3 times the number of vacation days per year (38) that an average American worker receives (13) (source: Harris Interactive).
5. CUTBACKS - During the current nationwide recession, the state of California has laid off 27,000 teachers (source: Wall Street Journal).
6. TAX FREE - Alaska is the only state in the US that does not have a state income tax and does not have any state sales tax. New Hampshire does not have a state income tax but does tax dividend and interest income that exceeds $4,800 (for joint filers), while also avoiding any state sales tax (source: Kiplinger’s Personal Finance).
Comments