This is just hilarious... :)

WOW.

In 2002, Ireland passed a tax on plastic bags; customers who want them must now pay 33 cents per bag at the register. There was an advertising awareness campaign. And then something happened that was bigger than the sum of these parts.
 
full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html?hp

By any measure, Exxon Mobil’s performance last year was a blowout.
 
The company reported Friday that it beat its own record for the highest profits ever recorded by any company, with net income rising 3 percent, to $40.6 billion, thanks to surging oil prices. The company’s sales, more than $404 billion, exceeded the gross domestic product of 120 countries.
 
full story: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/business/02oil.html