By The Numbers

Disappointing economic growth in China

Tony Wagner Jan 20, 2015
7.4 percent

With a low not seen in a quarter century, China’s economic growth dropped to 7.4 percent in 2014. As reported by the WSJ, some economists predict that disappointing numbers from 2014 are just the start of a global deceleration of growth.

2,000

That’s about how many times Ronald Reagan used the word “freedom” for every million words in his State of the Union addresses, the Atlantic reported. He also led the pack on “God.” The Atlantic has an automatic tool showing frequently used words by presidents.

50 percent

You may have noticed disparities in gas prices from station to station, but what about state to state? For example, a gallon of gasoline costs about 50 percent more in New York than Missouri. Turns out, many factors come into play that determine why you’ll pay more or less for a tank of gas in different states.

46 percent

President Barack Obama’s approval rating heading into Tuesday’s State of the Union address. It’s a bump up from the past year, the New York Times‘ Upshot reported, and it’ll become more important in the homestretch of Obama’s second term and as a factor in helping Democrats’ chances in 2016.

27 quadrillion

That’s 27 followed by 15 zeros, and it’s also the number of calculations per second the Titan supercomputer at Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory can compute. And it’s not even the fastest in the world. That title is held by a supercomputer in China. It’s why Congress has begun funding supercomputing with gusto, pledging over $400 million to building Oak Ridge’s next supercomputer.

80

That’s how many of the world’s richest people it would take to match the collective wealth of the poorer half of the population, Quartz reported. That’s a sharp drop from 2010, when you would have needed 388 super-rich to do the same.

 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.