My guess is, however, that their demagoguery is working in the sense that the average taxi-cab or beauty-parlor operator probably thinks that raising the top tax rates affect only millionaires and billionaires.

FORBES: Lying With Words As Well As Statistics

And while Virgin is often cited as the most expensive operator in the country Smith says that the average price paid for a ticket on the West Coast line has actually fallen in the last decade due to the range of discounts available.

BBC: Searching for the most expensive train journey

The Chicago Merc is part of CME Group, the biggest futures-exchange operator in the U.S., handling an average of 12.5 million contracts a day.

WSJ: An Economy Caught in a Web