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Think tanks are a great thing. What would we do without them? For example, the Policy Exchange from England has done a survey to determine how citizens in G7 countries (USA, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy and Canada) change their habits during the Christmas season. Here, some highlights:
* In December, Britons drink 41 percent more than their monthly average. In the United States, the jump is only 28 percent. Germans get 36 percent drunker.
* In Germany, the murder rate rises by 6.4 percent leading up to Christmas. (Something to keep in mind about murders in Germany: Because guns are illegal, kitchen knives are the weapon of choice.)
* Church attendance spikes in all G7 countries with Germany leading the way. 240 percent more church goers show up than in other months. In the United States the rise is a modest 112 percent but Americans' church-going rate, at over 50 percent of the population, is higher than all other G7 countries.
* Americans also spend more money for Christmas than any other G7 country. The average holiday bill in the US is €1,958 ($2,615). England isn't far behind at €1,548 ($2,068) with the Italians bringing up the rear with a binge of just €1,000 ($1,340). (12:07 p.m. CET)
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http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,334086,00.html