Conditions for gun ownership in Australia are now very strict, and the registration and approval process can take a year or more. Howard s government also implemented a rigorous buyback policy, to enable the government to purchase guns already owned by the public.

And yet, even more striking than this confirmation of the still rising importance of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) economies is the sheer size of Apple s ongoing buyback program. In April, the company announced it had authorized an additional 50 billion to be used for repurchasing shares, bringing the total to 140 billion.