I’ve always been fascinated by census data. In college I had to use statistical tools to project demand and then propose a building project of choice in a nearby town and prove that it was viable.
I studied/proved that the town of Morrisville, North Carolina (a tiny town in the Research Triangle) would support a new appartment complex. At the time, I think the town was less than 200. They built an appartment complex there less than 2 years later 
The U.S. population is projected to be 295,160,302 on Janary 1st, 2005, with a person beincong born every eight seconds and a person dying every 13 seconds.
As marketers, it’s enlightening to study the domographics of that population as well as that of other countries. Studying ad, education, growth rates in various segments, etc. tells you where to position yourself to catch the wave. For example, the largest segment of our population with lots of disposable income is the baby boomers. The baby boomers’ kids will also represent a significant pool of spenders depending upon what you’re selling.
You can check U.S. Census Data at: http://www.census.gov
