Yesterday, in a radio interview, one of the panel members commented on something that seemed very relevant to me and which, although obvious, shows the violent decline of our society.

I mean the lack of reliable data in Ecuador. With regard to my last column published in this space, related to the unreliability of research in the country, and on the occasion of the aforementioned comment, I intend to share a few thoughts on the matter with you, dear reader, in this column.

Since I have a conscious political memory, the information issued by the Central Bank or INEC (to name some examples) was moderately reliable. As well as three or four pollsters who take the political pulse of the country.

With the accelerating debacle of democratic institutions, what was once reliable is no longer so today.

When we have access to official data on inflation, growth projections for a country, uncertainty indices, or something as basic as the cost of a basic basket, to name just a few items, it is mostly information that, compared to other sources, is private, foreign NGOs or the simple realities of the market, it is inaccurate or wrong.

There can be many reasons, from official manipulation for electoral purposes or ego (manipulation that can come from different levels of the state), neglect of competent officials or ignorance and/or incompetence of those responsible.

The result is the same, regardless of the reason: a society that does not have reliable numbers.

And that is precisely why every ruler who takes power, whether national or local, almost always complains that the reality of what they got is much worse than what is publicly announced.

Do you remember, dear reader, the president of the past decades who, when he was sitting in Carondelet, did not complain about the state in which he receives, for example, state finances?

The most serious thing is that we have gotten used to seeing it as normal, as if manipulating numbers and deceiving the state and the international community is something reasonable and, perhaps, state policy.

Lucio, Correa, Lenin and Lasso said it at one time, and whoever wins the presidential election will certainly say it.

What to do about it?

I see two possibilities: to wait and pray for the arrival of exceptional authorities willing to change this dynamic, with the risk that in four years everything will return to normal, or by civil society to promote the institutionalization of reliable public data, collected, processed and spread by technical institutions with credibility and academic rigor, financed by the private sector (at least initially).

Information is power, without a doubt. And in this digital world we live in, it is essential that society has reliable information at its disposal.

Only then can we really know where we are and what we need to get the country out of the prostration it is in. (OR)