Democracy suffers when government statistics fail

Democracy suffers when government statistics fail

Democracy suffers when official statistics fail

The lack of innovation at statistical agencies in the United States contributes to the slow, bureaucratic and hidebound nature of government, argues economist Julia Lane in her new book. “If you think statistics and government sounds like twice the tedium for half the price, you would be entirely wrong,” writes reviewer Beth Simone Noveck, once the country’s deputy chief technology officer under president Barack Obama. “Democratizing Our Data is an illuminating and powerfully argued case that the United States must change the system it uses to produce public statistics.”

Nature | 6 min read