One estimate says there are around 10m extant bearer passbooks, many of them hidden away, perhaps even forgotten, under mattresses, in wardrobes and in safe deposit boxes.

ECONOMIST: Savings accounts in Italy

Cattle drowned can be crudely counted (140, 000, says one estimate for Argentina's Santa Fe province, stretched along 800km of the Parana), and the loss of crops ruined by flood or drought can be reckoned, but the long-term effects may take years to show up.

ECONOMIST: The season of El Niño | The

In a year when one estimate has advertising spending up 2.4%, Omnicom's top line should grow 12%, says Troy Mastin of William Blair--versus 5% for WPP and none at all for Interpublic.

FORBES: What advertising downturn?