The bottom line
War video game sets sales record; National debt surpasses $15 trillion; The world's most innovative companies; Canada introduces plastic currency; The apple of the taxman's eye
War video game sets sales record
The video game Modern Warfare 3 has set a sales record for the entertainment industry by grossing $775 million in global sales during its first five days on the market. The game, which retails for about $60, sold 6.5 million copies in North America and the United Kingdom on its first day alone.
New York Post
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National debt surpasses $15 trillion
The U.S. national debt passed the $15 trillion mark last week, according to the Treasury Department.
CBSNews.com
The world's most innovative companies
Of the top 100 most innovative companies in the world from 2005 to 2010, 40 are from the United States, 27 are from Japan, and 11 are from France, according to a new report from Thomson Reuters on patent activity. The semiconductor industry is the most innovative, followed by chemicals and computer hardware.
The Economist
Canada introduces plastic currency
Canada has introduced a plastic $100 bill. The polymer-based currency is said to last 2.5 times as long as paper bills and will be far harder to counterfeit. Plastic $50 bills will go into circulation in March, followed by $20, $10, and $5 bills in 2013.
USA Today
The apple of the taxman's eye
Nine of the country’s 10 most heavily taxed neighborhoods are in the New York City metro area, according to 2008 IRS data, the most recent available. Residents of the nine neighborhoods accounted for 0.2 percent of all individual tax filers nationwide, but paid 1.6 percent of all individual income taxes. The only non-NYC neighborhood in the top 10 was a western suburb of Houston.
Bloomberg.com

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