read all about it discover all the news

Where car ownership is highest

LUXEMBOURG'S roads are jammed with 647 cars for every 1,000 people, the highest ownership rate in the world. The tiny country is rich, which probably accounts for its motor-mania. Car ownership is also high in wealthy countries with remote rural populations, such as Iceland and New Zealand. Surprisingly, America, home of the motor vehicle, has fewer cars per person than either Australia or Canada.

...

How the financial crisis has affected the rich

EVEN the rich suffer in a financial crisis. Over a third of American millionaire households said they lost at least 30% of their net worth since September, according to a new report by Spectrem Group, a financial consultancy. Property, mutual funds, shares and annuities took the biggest knocks. Unsurprisingly, financial advisors are under more scrutiny, with satisfaction levels falling from 60% earlier in the year to 40%. A majority of the wealthy say they may not be able to support their lifestyles and nearly 20% will delay retirement.

...

In 2008 America's stockmarkets suffered their second-worst year since 1825

INVESTORS are told that the value of their shares may go down as well as up. Rarely, however, do they plummet as far as they did in 2008. The total return of the S&P 500 index fell by nearly 40% last year, the second-worst performance by America's stockmarket since 1825, according to calculations by Value Square, a Belgian asset-management firm. Comparisons to the Depression are clear: only in 1931 and 1937 were there similarly abysmal losses. The firm looked at various predecessors of the S&P 500 from 1923 onwards, and for earlier years took data from a working paper by Yale Management School on the returns of companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Since 1825, 129 years saw rising returns, whereas 55 suffered falls—four of them in this century.

...

Countries with the most, and fewest, doctors

UNSURPRISINGLY access to health care is closely tied to wealth. African countries have the fewest doctors per head of population, with Malawi the worst off. Beyond Africa, Bhutan is particularly short of doctors. Turkmenistan and Cuba have the most doctors to go around, more even than rich countries. Other former communist countries such as Belarus and Georgia are also well endowed with members of the medical profession.

...

Which countries produce most coffee?

THERE is indeed an awful lot of coffee in Brazil. And there is quite a bit in Vietnam and Colombia too. But while these three countries produce the most coffee their wares are drunk mainly in places where it would not grow quite so well. Americans drink the most of the invigorating beverage though Brazil gets through quite a bit too. Germany and Japan also outdrink those traditional homes of coffee swilling—France and Italy.

...

Demand for mobile phones will grow in 2009

FROM the world's poorest countries to the very richest, the demand for mobile phones will not be derailed by tougher economic times. Globally, subscriptions will swell by 8%, bringing the total to some 4 billion worldwide. In the developed world growth will be spurred by the need to upgrade to ever more powerful, internet-enabled phones, while in emerging economies heavy investment in network infrastructure will mean that virtually anyone, just about anywhere, will be able to get reception. In recession-hit economies, however, customers will delay their upgrades and cut back on pricier usage plans.

...

Fewer Europeans will go to the polls in 2009

THE European Union is in little danger of being mistaken for a vibrant democracy. A reputation for deals forged in backrooms and the failure to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, which would have conferred greater powers on the EU parliament, are all likely to dissuade too many of the half a billion EU citizens from turning out for parliamentary elections in 2009. Since direct elections began in 1979, at five-yearly intervals, turnout has fallen each time, to 46% in 2004. This hides lower turnout in countries such as Britain, and truly appalling statistics in some new member states which joined in 2004.

...

Business investment in big economies will shrink in 2009

IN UNCERTAIN times for businesses, cash is king, and those (mostly mature) firms that have fat margins and strong cash flow will have an edge over firms that are in critical phases of their investment cycle, especially start-ups that are burning rather than breeding cash. Many firms will slash discretionary spending and scale back growth plans to conserve cash until they get a clearer sense of the economic outlook. Before the market panic of September 2008, the OECD predicted that business investment would slump in first half of 2009, rebounding a bit in the second half, but to a much lower growth rate than had been the norm until recently. Even that now looks overly optimistic.

...

The battle for the world's biggest observation wheel

THE world's great capital cities engage in a rivalry that is generally unspoken. But occasionally this yearning to be the best erupts into the open and onto the skyline. And nothing proclaims your city's greatness like a vast Ferris wheel, the first of which was built for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. In 2009 Berlin plans to outdo the 135-metre London Eye in Britain's capital—Europe's largest—with a wheel 50 metres higher. But Beijing will steal the show with its own 208-metre Great Observation Wheel, the biggest in the world.

...

Why it pays to go abroad for medical treatment

AROUND 46m Americans lack health insurance, and tens of millions more are woefully under-insured. As they face huge out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles and “co-payments” for operations, they are increasingly heading overseas to cheaper facilities. Many common operations can be done in world-class hospitals abroad for a fifth or less of the price charged by American hospitals. As more employers and health-insurance firms add the “global option” to their plans, the number of American health tourists will soar to over 2m in 2009—rising to 10m by 2012, according to forecasts by Deloitte, a consultancy.

...