In 1997, Americans donated $143 billion to non-profit organisations. The non-profit sector accounts for 8 per cent of US GDP. [Giving USA]
Alexander Solzhenitsyn's latest book, Russia in the Abyss, has a print run in Russia of only 5,000 copies. [The Globe and Mail, 10th June 1998]
One of the BJP candidates in a local Indian election was a convicted criminal with 25 cases pending against him, including six for murder; he lost to someone facing 35 criminal charges. [The New York Review of Books, 25th June 1998]
In 1996, Africa attracted 1.5 per cent of the world's foreign direct investment. The largest recipient, Nigeria, got one third.[World Bank]
American families have an income before retirement which is five times higher than the public pension. In France and Germany it is only 1.7 times higher. [The OECD Observer, June/July 1998]
There are now 170 billionaires in the US compared with 13 in 1982.
[The Economist, 30th May 1998]
43 per cent of Britons believe that William Hague comes from the south of England. [The Daily Telegraph, 3rd April 1998]
In 1966, there were 766 PR companies and in-house PR departments in Britain. Last year there were 9,200. [The Invisible Persuaders, David Michie]
Children who bathe every day and wash their hands more than five times a day are 25 per cent more likely to have asthma than those who don't. [Jean Golding, University of Bristol]
