383 million

The number of open credit card accounts in the U.S. as of March 2013 (NY Fed) 

$770

The average price of a designer shoe at Barney’s in March, 2012. WAYYY back in the early 2000s, as referenced in Season 4 of Sex and the City, the price of pair of Manolo Blahnik’s was $485. (Jezebel)

118.7 %

Debt as a share of disposable income in 2011. In 1956, that number was just 22 percent. (State of Working America)

$1,737.6 billion

Corporate profits after tax, in dollars, in the first quarter of 2013. (St. Louis Fed)

4,000 %

The amount General Electric stock went up during the tenure of CEO Jack Welch. (CBS News) Welch’s 1981 speech titled ‘Growing fast in a slow-growth economy’ is often agreed on as the dawn of corporate focus on shareholder value. In 2009, with a few more years under his belt, he later refered to this focus on quarterly profits and share price gains as “the dumbest idea in the world.” (Businessweek)

9.6 million

Average CEO pay in 2011 — up 6 percent from the previous year. (USA Today)

43 percent

Visa’s profit margin; Mastercard stands at 40 percent margins, and Discover has a 30 percent profit margin. Guess that explains how we’re buying all of our stuff! (Seeking Alpha)