How do they even come up with these numbers? That was the question that I wanted to answer. It was 2007 and I went to Zambia to do the fieldwork for my doctoral thesis in economic history. I wanted to examine how national income estimates were made in African countries. I was struck by the derelict state of the Central Statistical Office in Lusaka. The planned agricultural crop survey was being delayed by the need for car repairs, most of the offices were dark, and the computers were either missing or very old. The national accounts division had three employees, of whom only one was regularly in the office while … Continue reading Morten Jerven