By The Numbers

Starbucks leaves room for a conversation about race

Tony Wagner and Raghu Manavalan Mar 17, 2015
21,878

The number of Starbucks locations worldwide as of late 2014. Now, some of those cafes could also start serving discussion on race relations. A new company initiative has baristas writing “Race Together” on cups, and striking up a conversation about racial divides in the U.S. It’s upping the ante significantly from McDonald’s “Pay with Lovin'” promotion, and it’s skewered thoroughly over at the Washington Post’s Compost blog.

500,000

The estimated number of Americans who spend any given night homeless on the street. Oakland, California carpenter Greg Kloehn is trying to fight homelessness in his city by building tiny houses on wheels out of salvaged wood, appliance parts and other debris.

$28.5 billion

The bonus pool for securities employees in New York last year, according to a report from the city comptroller last week. That’s almost twice the roughly $15 billion all American workers earning minimum wage made in 2014, according to the New York Times’ Upshot.

$2,353,077

The total amount of money remaining on former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland’s contract. Borland announced Tuesday he plans on retiring from the NFL. Borland cited health concerns over concussions for leaving the league after playing professionally for one year.

$33.94

The price for a pack of Gillette Fusion ProGlide razors on Amazon. That’s especially startling when razor handles can be purchased more or less for a song. You’ve always wondered by blades are so expensive, so we looked into it for our ongoing series investigating your questions about business and the economy.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.