Recently the press reported that a British study of Soviet statistics revealed suppression by the Soviet Union of statistical information concerning its production, cost of living, health, disease, living standards, population and other factors important in national welfare. It was concluded in the study that this suppression was due to the undemocratic nature of the Soviet government, the alleged need for secrecy and a need to save face. Of course, if true, this means that the Soviet citizen cannot himself determine the true situation in his country and cannot compare his status with that of citizens of other countries. It also means that citizens of other countries are handicapped in their quest for information and comparative statistics.
Nevertheless, from time to time revealing information appears. For example, the Moscow newspaper Pravda is reported to have complained about Soviet factory executives falsifying statistics to place themselves in a better position. The