The bottom line

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