MATHS IN THE PAPERS Maths in Finance 2003
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Russians spend billions on bribes
Finance

According to Pravda, the average Russian spends £7 per month on bribes, almost one tenth of the average wage. This amounts nationally to more than 19 billion pounds per year.

Bribes are offered to avoid fines and legal action over traffic offences, with smaller amounts offered to health care workers for good hospital care

Ananova 28/2/03

A penalty notice for evasion of London’s congestion charge has been issued to a car which hasn’t been on the road since 1947. The 105- year-old Daimler, with the number plate Y99, has been on display in the Bristol Industrial Museum for the last 25 years.

Ananova 27/2/03

Landfill sites affect house prices
Finance

Landfill sites are affecting the value of houses. According to a survey conducted recently to help the Treasury measure the loss of amenity value, 200,000 homes close to landfill sites are worth up to £5,500 less because of dust, noise, smell and vermin associated with landfill. This represents a 7% drop in price in the country as a whole, but in Scotland, the value of homes drop 41% if they are sited within a quarter of a mile of a landfill site.

The survey compared prices of properties near 11,300 landfill sites nationwide, and the sale of 592,000 houses over a ten year period.

The Guardian 22/2/03

Wait for lottery win
Finance

An unemployed teenager in Romania had to wait for his benefit money to arrive before collecting his lottery winnings in Bucharest. He needed less than £20 for his train ticket, but had to wait nearly two weeks before he could collect almost £800,000 in winnings

Ananova 17/2/03

Poor understanding of charity issues
Finance

An opinion survey commissioned by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations shows that public understanding of what constitutes a charity is very poor. Three in 10 people think the Child Support Agency, part of a government department, has charitable status. NCVO is launching a coalition of groups to campaign for reform of Britain’s 400 year old charity law.

The Guardian 12/2/03

The UK Household Survey 2001 suggests that about 5m pensioners own their own homes. With the average house worth nearly £116,000, billions of pounds in assets may pass to a new generation in the next decade or so.

This could have a real impact in the workplace, with more people able to decide to cut back on work, or to choose a less well paid, but more satisfying, job. This could mean that employers will have to work harder to attract and keep staff.

The Observer 2/2/03

Spot the ball
Finance

Managers from a casino in Velden, Austria are trying to work out how a roulette ball was switched by a gang who went on to win £250,000 at the roulette table. The new ball could be controlled by a nearby electro-magnet.

Ananova 15/1/03