Write your own editorial -- Part 1

Total net worth of all households in the U.S.: $40 trillion. The market value of all corporations in the U.S.: $10 trillion. Total value of all home mortgages in the U.S.: $5.6 trillion. Money held in 401(k) plans: $1.5 trillion. Purchases charged to credit cards in 2001: $1.29 trillion. Pension obligations of 360 top companies in the Standard & Poor's stock index: $1.15 trillion. Spending nationwide on public elementary and secondary schools: $400 billion. Debt being carried on credit cards at the end of 2001: $400 billion. Pension-fund shortfalls of the 360 top companies in Standard & Poor's stock index: $243 billion. Sales of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.: $220 billion. Sales of Exxon Mobil Corp.: $212 billion. Sales of General Motors Corp.: $177 billion. Sales of Ford Motor Co.: $162 billion. Deficit of the federal government in fiscal 2002: $159 billion. Food bought in restaurants: $143 billion. Sales of General Electric Co.: $126 billion.

Cost to New York City for the 9-11 attack: $95 billion. Financial aid to college students: $90 billion. Amount Americans spend on gambling: $63.3 billion. Amount spent annually on weddings: $60 billion. Net worth of Bill Gates: $43 billion. Debt of bankrupt WorldCom Inc.: $42 billion. Total net income earned on farms: $40 billion. Global sales of recorded music: $37 billion. Annual sales of PepsiCo.: $26.9 billion. Sales of automotive aftermarket performance parts and accessories: $26 billion. Federal government spending to run its regulatory agencies in 2002: $25 billion. Spending on cosmetics and beauty products by women 16 to 24 years old: $24 billion. Spending by teenagers to decorate their bedrooms: $17 billion. Sales of antidepressants in the U.S.: $12.2 billion. Federal aid to the airline industry since the WTC attack: $11 billion. Cost of building new runways at the nation's 18 largest airports: $10 billion. Public-school spending by New York City: $10 billion. Estimated net worth of comic-strip character Daddy Warbucks: $10 billion.

Spending on high-fashion clothing by men age 18 to 24: $9.2 billion. Money spent to buy movie tickets in 2001: $8.4 billion. Estimated net worth of ScroogeMcDuck: $8.2 billion. Worldwide sales of condoms: $4 billion. Sales of Pooh merchandise by the Walt Disney Co.: $4.5 billion. Annual spending by Hollywood to advertise movies: $3 billion. Sales of paper towels: $3 billion. Health-care spending by General Electric Co. for employees and retirees: $1.4 billion. Spending for political ads on television for last November's election: $900 million. National Basketball Association income from television: $700 million. Money spent by hotel guests for in-room pornographic movies: $500 million. Collective loss of all major-league baseball teams: $500 million.

Spending by drug companies to convince the public to take drugs to relieve anxiety, depression, and related illnesses: $184 million. Spending on advertising to promote MasterCard credit cards: $150 million. Money earned by pay-per-view from the Lewis-Tyson heavyweight fight: $103 million. Sales of table salt: $100 million. U.S. Postal Service spending for advertising: $100 million. Federal subsidies to poor people to pay for air conditioning: $100 million. Spending on advertising for Revlon cosmetics: $90 million. Spending by the U. S. Department of Agriculture's "the other white meat" pork promotion program: $54 million. Fees for lawyers and consultants handling the LTV bankruptcy in 2001: $38 million. Spending on consumer advertising to induce people to take Prozac: $31 million. Legal fees for Arthur Andersen stemming from the Enron debacle: $30 million. Spending for lobbying and political contributions by airlines for 20 months preceding August 2002: $27 million.