Service Corp. blamed its poor earnings in part on a lower-than-expected death rate, for example (see box), although Stewart executives note that it's the number of deaths, not the rate, that drives funeral sales-and deaths in the U.S. were up 1% last year.

FORBES: Grave dancer

India's literacy rate is rising, thanks in part to a surge in cheap private schools for the poor, but it is still far behind China's.

ECONOMIST: India's economy