1: The number of medals Tajikistan won at the London Olympics. It was a bronze. A women’s boxing bronze. Bravo
1.9: The record amount in billions of US dollars that HSBC has agreed to pay US authorities to settle allegations of money laundering
20,000,000+: The amount of compensation in pounds sterling Bob Diamond is thought to have waived on departing Barclays
(-0.55): The negative yield that Switzerland’s two-year bonds fell to in the summer of 2012 as investors piled into safe haven assets
10,000: The number of job cuts (equivalent to the population of a small Swiss town) UBS said it would make it in its investment banking division
23,300,000: The number of results for ‘Credit Bubble 2012’ by doing a quick Google search
6: The equivalent percentage that was expected to be wiped-off US GDP if the fiscal cliff was not resolved ahead of the 31/12/2012 deadline.
86: Lionel Messi’s a new record for the number of goals scored in a year, surpassing the equally diminutive but no less potent Gerd Müller.
21/12/12: The date, according to the Mayan calendar, when the world will come to an end.
22/12/12: The date when the world obviously didn’t come to an end, thankfully.