January 6, 2018
Once a month (or so), I turn to the Harper’s Index to give my readers those enticing factual nuggets they can’t find anywhere else. Herewith January’s Index:
Percentage by which a marijuana user is likelier than others to eat fast food five or more times in a given week : 75
Amount the US pharmaceutical industry spent in 2016 on ads for prescription drugs : $6,400,000,000
Number of countries in which direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads are legal : 2
Percentage of moisturizers sold in the United States as “fragrance-free” that contain a fragrance : 45
Of moisturizers sold as “hypoallergenic” that contain a common allergen : 83
Estimated chance that a white woman in Washington, D.C., has a tanning-salon addiction : 1 in 5
Percentage change between 2005 and 2014 in the number of French people undergoing weight-loss surgery : +269
Factor by which an obese woman is less likely than other candidates in France to be offered a job interview : 6
Percentage of applicants for dog-walking jobs through the app Wag! who are successful : 5
Of recently graduated applicants for jobs at Goldman Sachs who are : 4
Percentage by which white job applicants in the United States were preferred over black applicants in 1989 : 36
In 2015 : 36
Percentage of black Americans earning less than $25,000 a year who say they have been called a racial slur : 40
Of black Americans earning more than $75,000 : 65
Percentage of US Latinos who would support a law criminalizing offensive speech about white people : 47
Of US whites : 26
Percentage of US whites who believe white Americans are discriminated against : 55
Who say they’ve experienced discrimination themselves : 21
Amount white supremacist Richard Spencer paid the University of Florida to give a speech last October : $10,564
Estimated amount the university paid for security : $600,000
Percentage of Asian-American doctors who have had a patient request a different physician because of their ethnicity : 22
Percentages of Democrats and Republicans who say workplace sexual harassment is a very serious problem in Hollywood : 55,58
In the rest of the country : 45,22
Percentage of news stories about Donald Trump during his first sixty days in office that were positive : 5
Percentage of 2016 Clinton voters who think it’s hard to be friends with Trump voters :61
Of Trump voters who think it’s hard to be friends with Clinton voters : 34
Factor by which George W. Bush’s popularity among Democrats has increased since 2009 : 4
Average number of days the National Rifle Association waits to tweet after a major mass shooting : 6.3
Number of Texas inmates who donated money for Hurricane Harvey relief : 6,663
Number of days after the hurricane for which Texas prisoners lacked adequate food and water : 33
Portion of voting-age Floridians who have been disenfranchised because of felony convictions : 1/10
Percentage of youth library cards in New York City that were suspended due to overdue books before an October amnesty : 17
Total amount of debt that was forgiven : $2,250,000
Largest single fine : $1,422.69
Date on which New York City repealed a law requiring bars to have a license to allow dancing : 10/31/2017
Estimated percentage of bars that had such a license : 0.4
Amount a Canadian man was fined for singing “Everybody Dance Now” too loudly in his car : $117
Number of animated Jackie Chan Adventures episodes found on Osama bin Laden’s computer : 33
Of crocheting videos : 29