100 interesting facts about the economy

[diverdog]

I thought this was interesting:


http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/07/17/100-mind-blowing-facts-about-the-economy-.aspx#.UA4bKI45tFI








Some of my favs:

7. China's labor force grew by 145 million from 1990 to 2008. The entire U.S. labor force today is 156 million.

30. Since 1994, stock market returns are flat if the three days before the Federal Reserve announces interest-rate policy are removed.

48. The median American family's net worth fell to $77,300 in 2010 from $126,400 in 2007, according to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finance. That erased nearly two decades of accumulated wealth.

72. In 1990, the three largest U.S. banks held 10% of the industry's assets. By 2008, the top three controlled 40% of the assets.

92. According to biographer Ron Chernow, John D. Rockefeller's net worth peaked at $900 million in 1913. That equaled 2.3% of the U.S. economy. A comparable net worth today would be $340 billion, or eight times richer than Warren Buffett.
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[BigTip]

Does that mean Warren Buffet owns .03% of the US economy? (1/8 of 2.3%)
That is staggering to imagine Rockefeller's wealth.

[XingTheRubicon]

6. Since the recession began in 2007, the number of Americans receiving disability benefits has risen by 1.6 million, and the number of Americans employed has fallen by 4.8 million.


24. The U.S. makes up less than 5% of the world's population, but a third of the world's spending on pharmaceuticals, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare.


47. According to Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois, the added weight carried by vehicles due to obesity in America consumes an additional 938 million gallons of gasoline a year.

49. According to UCLA: "Only 3.1 percent of the world's children live in the United States, but U.S. families buy more than 40 percent of the toys consumed globally."

75. America is home to less than 5% of the world's population, but nearly a quarter of its prisoners.

100. According to Bankrate.com, nearly half of Americans don't have enough savings to cover three months expenses. Worth noting: The average duration of unemployment is now 10 months.




Good luck, Mitt...