Americans invest more in Britain than in the whole of continental Asia. [Philip Lader, US ambassador to Britain]
Since the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement, real manufacturing wages have fallen by 25 per cent in Mexico. [Dissent, Winter 1998]
The poorest fifth in Germany are 10 per cent better off than the poorest fifth in the US, even though average incomes are 23 per cent lower in Germany. [New Statesman, 2nd January 1998]
Eight out of ten EU citizens are on the whole satisfied with the life they lead. Only a fifth feel dissatisfied. [Eurobarometer]
Since being translated into Farsi, the book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus by John Gray has sold more than 50,000 copies in Iran; the title has been reprinted eight times in two years. [ The Globe and Mail, 3rd February 1998]
Of all e-mail and related communication, 90 per cent is in English. [The State of the
Cybernation, Neil Barrett]
In comparison with a typical urban area, deprived areas in Britain have 20 per cent more
residents under 15 years of age, 35 per cent more under 25 years, 15 per cent more with long-term disabilities and twice the number of single-parent families. [OECD Observer, February/March 1998]
According to George Greenfield, the literary agent, no more than 300 British-born novelists regularly earn more than ?50,000 a year.
[Observer, 18th January 1998]
