Numbers

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Autumn De Leon, Michelle Derrow, Aisha Durham, Tam Gray, David Spitz and Chris Taylor

$156 billion Assets of the world's three richest men: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Paul Allen

$136.2 billion Total GNP of the 43 least developed countries, the population of which is 600 million people

1.3 billion Number of people who live on less than $1 a day

72% International adult literacy rate, up from 48% in 1970

2,11,12 Ranking of books by television anchors Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather and Peter Jennings, respectively, on the New York Times best-seller list

84% Proportion of Americans who say government would work better if more people voted

49% Proportion of voting-age population who cast ballots in the 1996 presidential election, the lowest since 1924

$400 billion Estimated annual value of illicit drug sales worldwide

$270 billion Annual value of motor-vehicle exports worldwide

Sources: Forbes, U.N. Development Program, New York Times, Council for Excellence in Government