There has been a slight fall in the number who reckon they are at either the very top or the very bottom of the pile, consistent with the move to working behind desks and in air-conditioned places.

ECONOMIST: Class

Advertising executives in Japan reckon the number of new beverages that enter the market each year runs into the thousands.

ECONOMIST: Consumer goods

Time spent from start to finish: two hours. (I reckon you could do it in one if you were more disciplined.) Number of wardrobe boxes ticked: four.

WSJ: Tina Gaudoin on Style: How to Wear Topshop Past 25

Their counterparts at Deutsche Bank reckon the returns could be well above 30% in mortgage lending, a mouthwatering number compared with the 10% or less that banks are reporting in areas such as investment banking.

ECONOMIST: British banks

The government expects the number of Internet users will rise to 4m by 2000, although many people in the computer industry reckon the numbers will be far higher.

ECONOMIST: China and the Internet