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   XPost: soc.culture.baltics, soc.culture.czecho-slovak, soc.culture.russian   
   From: ddfr@daviddfriedman.nopsam.com   
      
   In article   
   ,   
    holman@mappi.helsinki.fi (Eugene Holman) wrote:   
      
   > Are you not disturbed by the fact that   
   > Cuba has a lower infant mortality rate than the United States?   
      
   I wanted to pick up on this particular point.   
      
   How do you know what Cuba's infant mortality rate is? How can you know?   
      
   We now know that Soviet economic statistics greatly exaggerated actual   
   economic accomplishments. G. Warren Nutter, the chief sceptic among   
   American economists, tried to make his own estimates, which were   
   considerably lower--and rejected by most American students of the Soviet   
   Union. After the collapse, it turned out that they had been too high.   
      
   Similarly here. It is clearly in the interest of Cuba's government to   
   report low infant mortality. It is clearly in the power of Cuba's   
   government to lie about infant mortality--Cuba isn't the sort of society   
   where independent journalists or academics are free to investigate the   
   matter. So what reason do you have to take their claims as gospel?   
      
   I am not claiming that your initial statement is false--merely that you   
   have no good reason to believe it is true.   
      
   --   
    http://www.daviddfriedman.com/ http://daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/   
    Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic.   
    Published by Baen, in bookstores now   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)