AS MANY AS or AS MUCH AS--Figure It Out Before You Write!

Today's "gotcha" grammar glitch can be found on page 31 in the current issue of Mental Floss magazine. The article on the "looming Social Security disaster" is informative and good. However, the writer confused the agreement issue of when to use AS MUCH AS and when to use AS MANY AS when she said of the Great Depression:

As many as half of the elderly population was left penniless,...

AS MANY AS should be used to refer to things that can be counted (like people). It would take a plural verb (like "were").

AS MUCH AS should be used to refer to what I like to call "lump sum things" like laundry, salt, and money which, when referring to the lump sum, are not counted or viewed individually.

A word like "population" can be used either way, BUT if you put AS MANY AS in front of it, you are referring to "people," not a lump sum "population," and you must use a plural verb.

Therefore, the sentence in question should read as follows:

As many as half of the elderly population were left penniless,...

I hope as many of my readers as possible grasp (not "grasps") the point I'm making. As much as half of this column is (not "are") printed in green ink.