Mar 142011
Back when the Iraq war was raging, I often put some statistics into my Day Book, comparing what has been said vs. what has been found (e.g., weapons of mass destruction.)
It’s time to do some statistics again.
Number of times the US economy (nominal GDP) is larger than China’s: 2.5 Number of times the US per capita GDP is larger than China’s: 10 Number of years it may take China to catch up to the US at present growth rates: 30 Number of people seriously injured by radiation at Fukushima: 0 Percentage of people in an informal CTV Ottawa poll who think nuclear power is unsafe: 53% Number of people protesting nuclear power in Germany: 60,000 Number of nuclear weapons in existence: 22,000 Largest nuclear weapon ever detonated (the Tsar Bomba): 60 megatons Number of Tsar Bomba’s with the energy equivalent of the Japanese earthquake: 100,000 Democracy index of China according to the Polity IV project: −7 Democracy index of Iran: −6 Democracy index of Iran just five years ago: 3 Democracy index of Japan: 10 Democracy index of Saudi Arabia: −10 Life expectancy in Japan (years): 82.6 (#1) Life expectancy in Canada (years): 80.7 (#11) Life expectancy in the United States (years): 78.1 (#36) Life expectancy in Iraq (years): 59.5 (#153) Life expectancy in Afghanistan (years): 43.8 (#188 out of 194) Number of top ten most literate US cities found in the top ten most conservative US states: 0 Number of top ten most literate US cities found in the top ten most liberal US states: 5 Ranking of the state of Mississippi in the list of conservative states: #1 Ranking of the state of Mississippi by health according to the United Health Foundation: #50
The thing about presenting raw numbers is that you can draw your own conclusions. Except of course that choosing which numbers to present may already amount to a not-so-subtle lie. For what it’s worth, I chose my numbers on a whim.