by Doug Henwood
That was long ago, in the HDI's early days. In the first iteration, the U.S. scored badly. As someone in the UN told me, "orders came down from the top" - the White House - to make the numbers look better. And they were remade to look better in subsequent years. One reason - the first Bush admin had published docs saying illiteracy rates in the U.S. were in the low teens. The HDI people picked up on this, hammering the U.S. standing. Literacy was dropped in favor of school enrollment stats, on which the U.S. does well. ^^^^^^^ CB: I notice they seem to just assume a 99% literacy rate for the U.S. ( footnote e ?) ? Is this a fudge ?
