subject: Are We Still Worlds Apart? [print this page] To determine what foreign city Americans visit most, Expedia analyzed hotel bookings and flights abroad. In 2012 Cancun, Mexico - with its inexpensive flights, 14 miles of beaches and carnival-style nightlife - was ranked #1. London, England's regal charm and its being a gateway for further European excursions earned it the ranking of #2. San Juan, Puerto Rico with its laidback atmosphere, narrow cobblestone streets, pastel-colored houses and active nightlife was ranked #3. Considering the beauty, romance and cuisine of Paris, France it was surprisingly ranked #4. It seems the "city of lights" may have dimmed for Americans.
Worldwide, the ratio of elderly people to working-age people is steadily increasing. However, this is not because life expectancy is increasing. It's because people are having fewer babies. According to the United Nation's population division, in 2012 the U.S. had 22.7 elderly for every 100 working-age people - and that's expected to double by 2060. The higher the ratio, the heavier the burden for workers. Japan's ratio of 41.6/100 was followed by Germany (39.1), Greece (30.6) and France (29.8). For this study elderly refers to people 65 and older and working-age refers to people 20-64. How you refer to yourself is up to you.
People around the world prefer white cars. This was the 2012 finding of PPG Industries - a Pittsburgh color, paint and coating company - that surveys car color preference every year. According to the survey, 22% of the world's population drove white cars, 20% drove silver, 19% drove black, 12% drove gray, 9% drove red, 8% drove natural, 7% drove blue, 2% drove green and 1% drove "other". However, rental and fleet car companies lean toward black or white cars because the paint jobs are cheaper than metallics - and those companies don't want to be financially "painted into a corner".
Singapore is expected to be the richest country in the world by 2050. That's according to the 2012 "Wealth Report", which is compiled by Citibank and the property consultant Knight Frank. The report's findings were based on measurements of the average income considering inflation, cost of living and exchange rates. In 2050 Singapore's average income is predicted to be $137,710. Hong Kong is predicted to be the second richest ($116,639) followed by Taiwan ($114,093), South Korea ($107,752) and the U.S. ($100,802). Supposedly, the favorite things of rich Singaporeans are books and other reading materials. "Read into" that what you want.
