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By The Numbers

Just a small town store with big town dreams

Beidi Zhang Apr 6, 2015
1 hour

That’s how far into the future technology can help us see…at least in traffic congestion. Microsoft is reportedly helping researchers in Brazil to calculate traffic jam  up to an hour before it happens. The Traffic Prediction Project uses data available by social networks, department of transportation, and data that users create themselves while they move around the city.

13.7 million? 3.1 Million? 2325? or 286?

One of these numbers is how many billionaires there are in the world. Find out the answer by listening to our conversation with quiz master Stephan Richter, editor in chief at the Globalist magazine. 

Half a billion dollars

This is how much debt Greece owe the IMF. The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, spent several hours of her Easter Sunday with the finance minister of Greece, who offered assurances that his country will pay what it owes the IMF. The loan is due on Thursday this week. It’s not clear if Greece has the money, which has to come from somewhere. Some say as Greece struggles to stay within the eurozone by not defaulting internationally, it may be defaulting internally. 

$10 dollars a ton

That’s how much some municipalities in New Jersey used to earn for selling materials to recyclers who would, in turn, resell the scrap. But as oil prices have continued to fall, so has the price of plastic. That’s because plastic is often derived from oil. And as a result, as the WSJ reports, it’s no longer a cheaper option to buy recycled plastics.

5,000 to 100,000

That’s the population size of cities where Radioshack will focus its efforts as it regroups from near bankruptcy. The reason? Smaller cities still need a neighborhood electronics store. As reported by the NY Times, the company will stop selling items like smartphones and laptops, instead focusing on accessories like chargers and bluetooth headsets—items that customers would prefer to have as soon as possible rather than waiting for a delivery.

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