Based on a nearly 1,300-square-foot apartment in the city center, rank of Monte Carlo on the list of the world's most expensive real estate markets in 2009, according to the Global Property Guide: 1 (At $4,180 per square foot, it's more than twice as expensive as the runner-up.)

Ranks of Moscow ($1,937), London ($1,928), Tokyo ($1,672), Hong Kong (1,498) and New York ($1,384) on the list: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Source: Global Property Guide.

Percentage of elite professionals (those earning more than $200,000 per year) who say networking impacts income, according to a study from Upwardly Mobile Inc. with the assistance of the Graziadio School of Business Management at Pepperdine University: 80

Percentage who believe a skilled networker could see up to a 100 percent increase in income: 58

Percentage of respondents who said networking is how they found their current job: 40

Source: Upwardly Mobile.

Number of days that employed Americans said their immediate household would be able to survive before it would be unable to pay for basic expenses such as rent/mortgage, food and transportation, should they lose their job, according to a poll commissioned by SnagAJob.com: 120

Source: SnagAJob.com.

Comparing employer "approval ratings" to past U.S. presidents -- percentage of employees who would "re-elect" their boss if they could, according to a "WorkWatch" survey, released by global staffing agency Randstad: 66

Percentage who said their boss should be impeached: 27

Source: Ranstad.

Percentage of consumers who say they don't know how to tell if green product claims are true: 30

Percentage of consumers who say a product's reputation is the biggest factor they weigh when making purchasing decisions: 21

Percentage who say they trust word-of-mouth: 19

Percentage who cite brand loyalty: 15

Source: Green Seal.

Percentage of workers who say they would have chosen a different career path if they could start their career over again, according to an "Workplace Insights" survey from Adecco Group North America: 54

Percentage of U.S. workers who appreciate having a job so much that any dread they may have about starting a new workweek is not a consideration: 41

Source: Adecco.

Percentage of epicurean adventurers who typically indulge at eateries that are $25 and less per person, according to TripAdvisor's dining out survey: 75

When it comes to restaurant cuisine, percentage who said their favorite is Italian: 31

Percentage who cited American: 18

Percentage whose preference was Mexican: 14

Source: TripAdvisor.

Rank of managers maintaining engagement with surviving employees of current recessionary layoffs, as it relates to the employees' morale, innovation and effectiveness, according to a survey from Sirota Intelligence: 1

When managers become disengaged, number of times more likely that their employees are to be disengaged: 3

Percentage more likely employees are to be frustrated with the company's systems and processes: 33

Source: Sirota Survey Intelligence.

Percentage of American adults (approximately 114 million) who play video games, according to a report from Packaged Facts: 52

Number of adults included in the total gamer population who are in the 55 and older age bracket: 25 million

Number who are retirees: 13 million

Number who are grandparents: 28 million

Source: Packaged Facts.

Estimated revenue lost by the U.S. Postal Service over the past two years -- accounted for by sharp declines in the amount of mail being sent, according to a Gallup Poll: $8 billion

When given a choice of three options for helping the U.S. Postal Service out of its financial difficulties, percentage who were willing to give up some of the conveniences the Postal Service has long offered, including six-day-a-week delivery and thousands of local post office branches: 57

Percentage who were in favor of raising stamp prices: 14

Source: Gallup.

Idle Thought

"Death tugs at my ear and says, 'Live, I am coming.'" -- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., poet, novelist, essayist and physician

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of Americans who had problems with one or more spellings in a test of 10 everyday words, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Spelling Society: 50-plus

Percentage of respondents who had initially believed that they had a problem spelling: 25

Percentage who admitted being reliant on spell-checkers for tasks such as completing job application forms or writing important letters: 33

Ranks of women and men when it comes to spelling: 1, 2 (The only word that men spelled better than women in the U.S. was "liaison.")

Source: Ipsos Mori.

Percentage of car buyers who said that their worst mistake when purchasing a car was overpaying for a new car that quickly depreciated in value, according to a survey of U.S. adults conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of CarMax: 26

Percentage who said that their worst mistake was not doing enough research: 22

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of workers who revealed that they have dated a co-worker at some time during their careers, with 18 percent admitting to doing it twice or more, according to CareerBuilder.com's annual office romance survey: 40

Percentage of male workers who currently work with someone they would like to date: 14

Percentage of women who said the same: 5

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Ranks of environmental services/clean technology, health care, life sciences/pharmaceuticals and energy on the list of industries recruiters expect will generate the greatest growth in executive-level job opportunities in 2009, according to a survey of executive search firms conducted by ExecuNet): 1, 2, 3, 4

Ranks of business development, sales, operations management and finance on the list of functions expected to be in greatest demand during the year ahead: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: ExecuNet.

Percentage of affluent Americans (incomes of over $100,000) who say the economy is their greatest concern, according to an Ipsos Mendelsohn survey: 60

Percentage who cited unemployment and jobs: 30

Source: Ipsos Mendelsohn.

Percentage of alternative energy investors and analysts who expect alternative energy stocks to outperform the broader markets in 2009, according to a survey by global public relations agency Waggener Edstrom Worldwide: 50

Percentage who see the Obama administration as a "positive" or "very positive" performance catalyst: 82

Source: Waggener Edstrom Worldwide.

Cost per compromised customer to U.S. companies of data breach incidents, according to the results of a U.S. Cost of a Data Breach Study by PGP Corp. and the Ponemon Institute, which examined 43 organizations across 17 different industry sectors: $202

Since the study's inception in 2005, estimated growth per victim of this cost component (nearly a 40 percent increase): $64

Source: Ponemon Institute.

Percentage of Americans who say the biggest communication faux pas is when their loved ones expect them to always answer when they call, according to a survey commissioned by SpinVox conducted by Kelton Research: 28

Percentage who say it's when their honeys return their calls before listening to the voice mail they left: 27

Source: Kelton Research.

Percentage of baby boomers caring for an aging parent who say that it has put a strain on their marriage, according to a research study conducted by Caring.com: 80

Percentage of divorced baby boomers who said caregiving played a major role in their divorce: 25

Source: Caring.com.

Idle Thought

"This country will not be a permanently good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a reasonably good place for all of us to live in." -- Theodore Roosevelt, 26th U.S. President

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Percentage of men and women who say a successful relationship with a significant other is more important than a successful career in order to achieve a happy life, according to a SnagAJob Valentine's Day survey: 75

Percentage of Americans who say that they have either sacrificed their own career for the benefit of a significant other's or would be willing to do so: 66

Source: SnagAJob.com.

When the International Association of Administrative Professionals asked its members what makes a good boss, the percentage who said that being a good communicator is essential in a manager: 37

When asked how a boss could foster better office communications, percentage who said that being clear when assigning tasks: 30

Source: International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Percentage of voters who said they believed in the American Dream immediately after the presidential election, according to Zogby interactive polls: 67

By the second week of January, percentage who said they believed in the American Dream: 56

Percentage who believe because America is the land of opportunity: 52

Source: Zogby International.

Estimated percentage increase in the U.S. market share of world international travel that it would take to add $15 billion to the U.S. economy, according to the U.S. Travel Association: 1

As a result of the 1 percent increase, number of new jobs created: 153,000

Amount of new federal tax revenue included in the $15 billion: $1.3 billion

Source: U.S. Travel Association.

Ranks of Budweiser horse circus (interest score 77.02), Budweiser horse fetch (74.61), Coca-Cola nature (72.53), Bridgestone potato head (71.73) and Budweiser horse coming to America (71.48) on the list of top Super Bowl commercials, according to HCD Research and mediacurves.com: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: HCD Research Inc.

Percentage of U.S. households that are still unprepared for the switch to digital television, according to the Nielsen Co.: 5.8

Number of homes this represents: 5.1 million

Source: Nielsen -- NetRatings.

Percentage of alpha females -- defined as "articulate, outspoken super-consumers who have a lot to say about marketing, life and the universe" -- who agree that "making do with less across the board" is now more of a priority, according to results from the 2009 Ginger's Alpha Panel Survey: 62

Percentage of alpha females who plan to have fewer nice dinners out: 65

Though alphas still plan to shop, percentage who are now "buying on sale": 60

Source: Ginger.

Number of years that clothier Eton has been in business (started in the small village of Ganghester, Sweden), according to Katrin Tijburg, brand manager for North America: 81

Price of the world's most expensive shirt, the Eton Diamond Shirt, woven from the finest Egyptian cotton and detailed with natural-colored diamond studs and presented to celebrate the opening of Eton's flagship store in the Plaza Hotel in New York City: $40,000

Source: Eton.

Percentage of financial advisers and financial planners across the country who thought President Obama's $819 billion bailout plan was a bad idea, according to the results of the exclusive online InvestmentNews survey: 45.6

Percentage of advisers who do not have much confidence in Obama's ability to fix the economy: 36.4

Source: InvestmentNews.

Percentage of people in the United States who say the morality of U.S. foreign policy is superior: 24

Among Russians, percentage who say their morality is superior: 27

In China, percentage of respondents who say their foreign policy is morally superior: 38

Source: PIPA/WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Idle Thought

"Let us enrich ourselves with our mutual differences." -- Paul Valery, poet and philosopher

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)