Comment: the democracy of facts

As the availability and quality of our national data-gathering systems have increasingly been taken for granted, concern and protection for these resources have been relaxed. This has resulted in the loss of a focus for statistical policy and coordination, a diminution in the size of samples taken, a retrogression in the amount of data collected, and the neglect of social and economic research. It is the responsibility of government, labor, business, and users of data to demand a national statistical coordination that maintains quality, integrity, and independence.