What Makes Soup Soup?
Don't ask Ukraine's kakistokrats
What is Ukraine’s COVID-19 disaster, and how can we measure the spread of the virus correctly? These may seem like simple questions, but top Ukrainian officials have been struggling to answer them.
They first created algorithms to measure infection rates, but it’s been difficult to assess the reliability and accuracy of the reporting formula without a circular reliance on the means used to collect the data, which we distrust.
The exercise raises challenging epistemic and technical questions. Much of the public’s knowledge about Ukraine’s handling of the epidemic has been based on the opinions of hacks and academicians. (cf. 1,700-word op-ed, titled One Year Later: Zelensky’s Moment of Reckoning, appearing in The American Interest)
