Hermes Index
(With apologies to Harpers Magazine)
1) Percent of burglaries taking place between Memorial Day and Labor Day as cited in an ad for ADT Security warning that "burglars look forward to your summer vacation as much as you do": 26
2) Percent of the year that takes place between Memorial Day and Labor Day: 26.6
3) Average age of a woman receiving AFDC: 29
4) Average number of children of AFDC recipients: 2
5) Average years of work experience of a woman going on welfare: 4
6) Percent of AIDS infections that occur in the developing world: 85
7) Percent of annual spending on AIDS prevention that goes to the developing world: 10
8) US trade surplus with Mexico in dollars in 1993 (before NAFTA took effect on January 1, 1994): 1.7 billion
9) US trade deficit with Mexico in dollars in 1996: 16 billion
10) Number of US workers certified by the US Department of Labor in one NAFTA retraining program as having been laid off due to NAFTA: 98,645
11) Approximate weekly earnings in dollars of television production workers in JVC’s Elmwood Park, NJ plant: 360
12) Approximate weekly earnings in dollars of television production workers in JVC’s Tijuana plant: 50
13) Mexico’s 1996 global ranking in number of billionaires per country: 5
14) Estimated percentage of Mexico’s people who live on less than $5 per day: 44
Sources: 1-2: Consumer Reports; 3-5: NOW; 6-7: The Nation; 8-11: Peacework, 4/97