U.S. spends over $16 billion annually on counter-terrorism
Amount the U.S. intelligence community proposed to spend on counter-terrorism in fiscal 2013.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Drew DeSilver
Senior Writer/Editor
Drew DeSilver is a senior writer at Pew Research Center.
Publications
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Can presidential speeches change minds? The evidence suggest not
The presidency may well be a “bully pulpit,” in Theodore Roosevelt’s original sense, a position that commands attention. But as President Barack Obama prepares to address the nation Tuesday in support of taking military action against Syria, there’s little evidence (at least in recent times) that presidential speeches are very effective at moving the needle […]
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The falling price of a smartphone
Decline in the average selling price of smartphones over past two years.
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In foreign affairs, Americans are less receptive to moral arguments
Americans generally are less willing to support foreign policies on moral or humanitarian grounds than when they are cast as directly benefiting the United States or its allies.
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Most members of Congress have little direct military experience
Veterans make up a smaller share of Congress than at any time in the past five decades.
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Current Congress is not the least productive in recent history, but close
Updated data on the legislative productivity of the 113th Congress is available here. As Congress gets ready to return from its August recess and address the pressing issue of whether to take action in Syria, it does so amid largely unfavorable views from the public. Seven-in-ten Americans have a “very” or “mostly” unfavorable opinion of […]
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Chart of the Week: The “black budget”
Using documents obtained from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, The Washington Post has published the first-ever detailed look at the U.S. government’s intelligence spending — the “black budget,” so called because, though the overall spending figure has been made public since 2007, the specifics have not. For its combination of newsworthiness, clear and efficient presentation […]
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Black incomes are up, but wealth isn’t
Although household-income growth for African-Americans has outpaced that of whites since the 1960s, those gains haven’t led to any narrowing of the wealth gap between the races.
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King’s “I have a dream” speech, by the numbers
Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech 50 years ago today on Washington D.C.’s National Mall and Memorial Parks has become one of the most famous, and quoted, pieces of oratory in U.S. history (though that wasn’t apparent to everyone at the time). But how well have the aspirations King so memorably expressed been realized? We ran […]
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Can we all get along? For most, the answer is yes
Most blacks, whites and Hispanics say they get along reasonably well with each other — and at modestly higher levels than in the recent past.