You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
$772 million
Estimated worth of impressionist, modern and contemporary art sold at auction over a two-week sale in London’s top art auction houses. Strong prices in the art market are prompting people to sell works that have never before been up for auction before — half the works being sold at Christie’s impressionist and modern art sale on Tuesday are new to the auction game. [The Wall Street Journal]
28-9
The new tax law that Congress passed in December caps the federal deduction for state and local taxes at $10,000. But New Jersey wants to find a way to let its residents bypass that cap. A bill working its way through the state legislature would allow local municipalities to set up charitable funds to which residents could donate their property taxes, thus working around the federal deduction cap. The state senate voted 28-9 to advance the bill. [Bloomberg]
57 percent
Home buyers are increasingly putting in bids sight unseen. A survey from brokerage firm Redfin Corp. found 35 percent of home buyers did not visit a property before putting in a bid. This rate shoots up in tight housing markets like Los Angeles, where 57 percent of buyers bid on a home without visiting it. [Bloomberg]
5 states
At least five states have laws that ensure pharmacists can tell patients about cheaper drugs. The laws are an attempt to fight against gag clauses that prevent pharmacists from telling consumers their medication could be cheaper if they paid cash rather than paid through their insurance plan. [The New York Times]
51 percent
Wow, Facebook Live is tanking: An analysis of 17 brands paid by Facebook to publish live videos on Facebook found that the number of broadcasts was down 51 percent from April to December 2017 compared to the period from April 2016 to March 2017. [Columbia Journalism Review]
55.2 percent
After President Trump’s disapproval rating ticked slightly downward over the last month, his disapproval rating is back up to 55.2 percent, a jump of 2 points in ten days. [FiveThirtyEight]
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