Each evening, the number of protesters swells as people come from school or work, and the group marches to Michigan Avenue.
In the first, public budgets enjoy a bonus as the rising number of workers swells tax receipts while the relatively smaller number of the old restrains the cost of pensions.
By 2025, as the number of retirees swells, the system will have to begin redeeming the bonds to pay benefits, and by 2037, the trust fund will be exhausted, leaving Social Security completely dependent on payroll tax revenue.
But as the number of retirees swells to exceed the size of subsequent generations, this boost will be replaced with an equally large downward pressure on home values.
The number of protesters swelled to about 3,000 people, but the demonstration remained peaceful.
The number of arrests swelled, often with entire groups being taken into custody.
On Wednesday, students from Greensboro's "Negro" secondary school, Dudley High, joined in, and the number of protesters swelled to eighty.
In America there have been at least five merger waves, in which the number of deals swelled, peaked then tumbled.
The event, plus the usual number of tourists, swelled the crowd at the zoo on Monday; estimates ranged from 15,000 to 20,000 people.
The number of applicants swelled largely because of claims by Roma from the former Yugoslavia, practically all of whom were turned down.
Two of the world's top five firms are based in London, and last year alone the number of solicitors swelled by 3.5%.
