This week we are publishing our Christmas quiz. The fourteen
questions offer a wide ranging test of knowledge, from levels of
fax machine ownership to the hit TV series Homeland. The answers,
and a brief explanation of the factors at work, are at the bottom
of the email.
1. Which US corporate popularised today's image of Santa Claus
as a rotund, red-suited, jolly old man?
a. McDonald's
b. Hallmark Cards
c. Coca-Cola
2. Which of the following countries is forecast to grow at the
fastest rate in 2013?
a. Iraq
b. Rwanda
c. Iran
3. Which of the following has been the best performing company in
the UK FTSE100 so far this year?
a. Lloyds Bank
b. Mark & Spencer
c. British Petroleum
4. The graduates of which of the following American universities
in 2012 had the highest median salary?
a. Harvard University
b. Milwaukee School of Engineering
c. South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
5. Sales of which one of the following goods fell in 2012?
a. Bicycles in Greece
b. Pay TV in Spain
c. Ferraris in Italy
6. Which of the following UK publications has the highest
circulation?
a. The Sun
b. The Financial Times
c. Tesco magazine
7. How many British actors star in the hit US drama
"Homeland"?
a. One
b. Two
c. Four
8. Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index
ranks 176 countries around the world on levels of public sector
corruption, based on the perceptions of public and private sector
institutions that operate there. Which of these countries is ranked
as having the most corrupt public sector in 2012?
a. Greece
b. Estonia
c. Russia
9. Which country has the highest level of ownership of fax
machines amongst the general public?
a. Japan
b. United States
c. New Zealand
10. In a Which? Magazine taste test of sparkling wines by
experienced champagne tasters, Moet & Chandon's Brut NV,
priced at £31.99, received a score of 74%. Which of the
following champagnes received the highest score of 86%?
a. Sainsbury's Blanc de Noirs (£20.99)
b. Asda Extra Special Prosecco (£7.98)
c. M&S De Saint Gall Blanc de Blancs Premier Cru NV
(£28)
11. Who resigned from power on Christmas Day 1991?
a. Margaret Thatcher
b. Francois Mitterand
c. Mikhail Gorbachev
12. According to The Economist's house price affordability
index, which is the world's most undervalued – or
cheapest - housing market?
a. Japan
b. Germany
c. France
13. According to UBS research which is the world's most
expensive city to live in?
a. Oslo
b. New York
c. London
14. On average people in the industrialised world would need to
have $1.8m of assets to consider themselves wealthy according to
Skandia's International Wealth Sentiment Monitor. However,
attitudes to wealth vary across countries. Which country's
citizens require the greatest amount of assets to consider
themselves wealthy?
a. Dubai
b. Germany
c. Singapore
ANSWERS AND COMMENTARY
1. Which US corporate popularised today's image of Santa Claus
as a rotund, red-suited, jolly old man?
c. Coca-Cola
Comment: Contrary to popular myth Coca Cola did not invent the
image of the red clad Santa, but it played a major role in
popularising it. Indeed Coca-Cola was not even the first soft
drinks company to utilize the image of Santa Claus in their
advertising, as White Rock Beverages had used it to sell mineral
water in 1915 and ginger ale in 1923. There are records of Santa
wearing different coloured costumes in the nineteenth century,
including green outfits, although the default choice was red. The
US magazine Harper's Weekly produced a series of engravings of
Santa between 1863 and 1886 which showed him much as he appears
today. The artist of these pictures, Thomas Nast, is often credited
with having created the modern Santa. In the early 1930s Coca Cola
started a 30 year festive advertising campaign featuring drawings
by the Swedish artist Haddon Sundblom of a fat Santa in a red coat
trimmed with fur and secured with a large belt. Through Coke's
magazine advertisements, billboards and store displays these images
helped cement today's image of Santa.
2. Which of the following countries is forecast to grow at the
fastest rate in 2013?
a. Iraq
Comment: the IMF forecasts Iraq will grow by 14.7% in 2013 largely
as a result of rising oil revenues. Iraq has the world's
fourth-largest oil reserves. Production is at a 30 year high and
the government has ambitions to double output over the next three
years. Rwanda is also growing rapidly and is expected by the IMF to
expand by 7.5% next year. Rwanda has been lauded for its progress
on developing a business friendly and transparent economy, and was
labelled "Africa's Singapore" by The Economist
earlier in 2012, which stated that "no African country has
done more to curb corruption." Iran is forecast to grow by
just 0.8% next year, largely as a result of increasingly tough
international sanctions designed to disrupt its nuclear
programme.
3. Which of the following has been the best performing company in
the UK FTSE100 so far this year?
a. Lloyds Bank
Comment: Shares in Lloyds rose by 71%. Shares in M&S defied a
difficult retail environment to rise 19%, while shares in BP fell
9% in part because of the continuing fall-out from the Gulf of
Mexico oil spill in 2011.
4. The graduates of which of the following American universities
in 2012 had the highest median salary?
c. South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Comment: Graduates from the South Dakota School of Mines &
Technology graduated with a median salary of $56,700 in 2012,
compared to median salaries of $50,700 for graduates from the
'Ivy League' Harvard. Graduate engineers from the Milwaukee
School of Engineering received a median salary of $56,200, also
beating Harvard and testifying to the market value of engineers.
However, out of the three universities, Harvard tops the list of
'mid-career' earnings – at $111,000 compared to
$99,500 for South Dakota graduates and $87,500 for Milwaukee
alumni.
5. Sales of which one of the following goods fell in 2012?
c. Ferraris in Italy
Comment: Sales of bicycles in Greece rose 25%, due to the high
costs of running a car. Sales of pay TV services rose 18% in Spain
as people spent more on home entertainment. Sales of Ferraris in
Italy fell by 50%, partly due to austerity measures introduced by
the government of Prime Minister, Mario Monti, which raised
ownership levies on high-performance vehicles.
6. Which of the following UK publications has the highest
circulation?
c. Tesco magazine
Comment: Tesco magazine eclipsed The Sun as the publication with
the highest UK circulation, with 7.2m circulation compared to 7.1m
for The Sun. The FT had circulation figures of under 300,000 but
has seen strong growth online, with digital subscriptions this year
surpassing print for the first time. Tesco magazine's
circulation grew by 8% in 2012, highlighting the growth of
supermarket distribution power and the decline in paid-for print
media.
7. How many British actors star in the hit US drama
"Homeland"?
c. Four
Comment: Despite being an entirely US-based production the show
stars four British actors – Damian Lewis (who won an Emmy
this year for his performance as Nicholas Brody in the show), David
Harewood (as David Estes), Rupert Friend (Peter Quinn) and Zuleikha
Robinson (Roya Hammad). The UK is the largest producer of TV and
radio content in Europe, with only the US generating more value
from TV exports. In 2009, UK exports of services by the creative
industries accounted for 10.6% of the UK's total exports of
services.
8. Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index
ranks 176 countries around the world on levels of public sector
corruption, based on the perceptions of public and private sector
institutions that operate there. Which of these countries is ranked
as having the most corrupt public sector in 2012?
c. Russia
Comment: Russia is the lowest ranked of these three countries at
133, whilst Estonia's economy is ranked relatively highly
(#32). In the EU, the lowest ranked nation is Greece (#94) followed
by Italy (#72). Denmark, Finland and New Zealand occupy the top
three spots. The bottom three ranked countries globally are
Afghanistan, North Korea and Somalia.
9. Which country has the highest level of ownership of fax
machines amongst the general public?
a. Japan
Comment: Despite Japan being an early adopter of the latest
technology and one of the most advanced technological countries in
the world, nearly one in ten Japanese people still own fax machines
– equating to 59% of Japanese households. Many Japanese,
especially the elderly, still use fax machines due to a traditional
reverence for paper and the art of Japanese handwriting. Fax
machine ownership is around one in twenty in the United States and
one in seventy in New Zealand.
10. In a Which? Magazine taste test of sparkling wines by
experienced champagne tasters, Moet & Chandon's Brut NV,
priced at £31.99, received a score of 74%. Which of the
following champagnes received the highest score of 86%?
a. Sainsbury's Blanc de Noirs (£20.99)
Comment: Sainsbury's Blanc de Noirs received the highest score
and was described as, "A rich and rounded Champagne with
classic character". At £29.99 it costs a third less than
Moet & Chandon which received a lower score. Asda Extra Special
Prosecco received a score of 71%, not far behind Moet & Chandon
despite being a quarter of the cost. The M&S Champagne received
a score of 83%.
11. Who resigned from power on Christmas Day 1991?
c. Mikhail Gorbachev
Comment: The Soviet Union collapsed with dramatic speed in the
second half of 1991. Communist rule effectively came to an end in
late summer with the suspension of all communist party activity on
Soviet territory. In early December the presidents of Russia,
Ukraine and Belarus declared the end of the Soviet Union and the
founding the Commonwealth of Independent States. On 17th December
Gorbachev reluctantly agreed to dissolve the Soviet Union. He
resigned on 25 December and was replaced by Boris Yeltsin.
12. According to The Economist's house price affordability
index, which is the world's most undervalued – or
cheapest - housing market?
a. Japan
Comment: Japan is the most undervalued market when average prices
are compared to incomes and rents, and is rated as being 36% below
'fair value'. Germany (-20%) and the United States (-19%)
are the next two 'cheapest' markets. The most over-valued
markets are Hong Kong (+64%), Singapore (+58%) and France (+43%).
The British housing market is rated as being 20% overvalued.
13. According to UBS research which is the world's most
expensive city to live in?
a. Oslo
Comment: Oslo is ranked as the most expensive in 2012 by UBS,
which looks at prices in 72 major international cities and is based
on living expenses such as food, rent, clothing, electronics, and
services like haircuts and phone charges. New York is ranked 6th
most expensive and London 10th most expensive. New York has by far
the most expensive rents of the three cities however, with average
rents of £3,350 per month compared to $1,980 in London and
$1,970 in Oslo.
14. On average people in the industrialised world would need to
have $1.8m of assets to consider themselves wealthy according to
Skandia's International Wealth Sentiment Monitor. However,
attitudes to wealth vary across countries. Which country's
citizens require the greatest amount of assets to consider
themselves wealthy?
c. Singapore
Comment: Singaporeans would require $2.91m before they could feel
wealthy, with Dubai ranked second with $2.5m. Germans would
'only' require $1m, whilst the British would on average
require $1.31m. The survey results also show that most people do
believe that money improves lives – with 80% of people
believing that money can buy them happiness.
MARKETS & NEWS
UK's FTSE 100 ended the week 0.8% higher following
better-than-expected US jobs data.
Here are some recent news stories that caught our eye as
reflecting key economic themes:
KEY THEMES
* The US unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, its lowest level in 4
years, according to data from the Labor Department – US
unemployment
* British Chancellor George Osborne extended by a year the
UK's programme of planned austerity, up to 2018 – Autumn
Statement
* Ratings agency Fitch warned that UK's gross government debt
is "approaching the upper level consistent with the UK
retaining its 'AAA' status" – sovereign
debt
* Elliott Capital Management won a court ruling in New York to
force Argentina to repay $1.3bn of debt in full with accumulated
interest since 2001, after rejecting debt restructuring terms
– sovereign debt
* The net wealth of US households rose to $64.8tn in the Q3 2012,
according to the Federal Reserve, its highest since late 2007
– US wealth
* Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi claimed current
government austerity policies have brought Italy to "the brink
of the abyss", before leading a boycott in the Italian senate
– euro crisis politics
* The German Bundesbank sharply cut its forecast for German growth
in 2013 to 0.4% from 1.6% - slowdown
* UK car registrations rose at an annual rate of 11.3% in November
according to data from The Society of Motor Manufacturers and
Traders (SMMT), putting them on course for their highest yearly
figure since 2008 – UK auto market
* US car sales rose by an annual rate of 15% in November, their
fastest rate of growth since January 2008, according to figures
from AutoData – US auto market
* The Greek government offered to buy back €10bn of its
national debt as part of its latest bail-out deal with
international creditors – euro crisis response
* The Home Grown Cereals Authority forecast that UK net imports of
wheat will be 2.04m tonnes for the 2012-13 crop season, the most in
32 years, due to a crop failure – commodities
* Data from Dealogic shows non-financial corporations have sold a
record $734bn of bonds that mature in 10 years or more since the
start of 2012, already 36% per cent more than was issued in the
whole of last year – 'long-dated' corporate
bonds.
* Technology firm Apple Inc announced plans to shift production of
one of its Mac computers from China to the United States in 2013
– re-shoring
* Christian Noyer, governor of the Bank of France, claimed there
is "no rationale" for London being the financial centre
of Europe – euro politics
* Goldman Sachs, the bank that coined the term the "commodity
supercycle" for the rapid rise in resource prices of the last
decade, now anticipates a more stable long term price environment -
commodities
* The number of Chinese tourists visiting Australia rose 17% in
the year to September, surpassing those from Britain for the first
time – emerging market wealth
* Citigroup Inc. announced plans to cut 11,000 jobs globally as
part of restructuring plans – Citi
* TUI Travel announced record UK profits of £201m for 2012,
with total UK winter sales up 5% annually – TUI
* Portugal joined Poland in pulling out of next year's
Eurovision song contest, citing "current budgetary
circumstances, which do not allow for the accumulation of assembled
events" – eurovision crisis
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