But beyond the profound federal perks, married people make more money.

Now one of the perks of being a lexicographer besides getting to come to TED is that you get to say really fun words, like lexicographical.

Now, one of the non perks of being a lexicographer is that people don't usually have a kind of warm, fuzzy, snuggly image of the dictionary.

Cuban and Venezuelan involvement in political parties in Mexico or Brazil, for example, is undisputable, but not necessarily very relevant. These are large countries with huge economies, where conspiring and doling out small perks and favors is not very effective.

Such differences are questionable not only in terms of fairness they are also economically inefficient, because they tend to limit labor mobility across firms and sectors. Employees may think twice before leaving a company if they are set to lose valuable perks as a consequence.

More worryingly, when Shia, Sunnis, and or Kurds decide that their elected officials are not delivering the promised perks and protections, they are likely to look beyond politics to advance their individual interests. Some Shia may turn to militia leaders, Sunnis to insurgents, and Kurds to leaders demanding independence.

A vocal minority of Moldova s people believe that merging their country with Romania would put the country into the express lane to EU membership, with its generous financial perks and, perhaps most enticing of all, passports that would enable them to escape a no hope economy to build lives elsewhere.

Ever since 2001, when France enacted a law requiring listed companies to reveal their executives pay packages, newspapers have had a field day denouncing greedy bosses. Not only are fixed salaries revealed, but so are bonuses, fees for serving on boards of directors, returns on stock options, pension packages, and other perks, such as corporate jets or chauffeur driven cars.

Indeed, with the ratio of royals to commoners now at one to a thousand (compared to one to five million in the United Kingdom), the challenge of managing princely privileges, salaries, and demand for jobs has never been more intense. Royal perks include lifetime sinecures and domination of the civil service, which enable the princes to award contracts and receive commissions on top of their salaries.

Having learned from the collapse of the Soviet Union that a bureaucratic ruling party must co opt new social elites to deprive potential opposition groups of leaders, the Communist Party has conducted an effective campaign of expanding its social base. The urban intelligentsia and professionals have been pampered with material perks and political recognition, while new private entrepreneurs have been allowed to join the Party.