Transparency

Capitalism doesn't work without Transparency. Don't believe me? Go read up. I'll let you read whoever you want. Go ahead, I'll wait...

Done?

Didn't do it, did you? Lazy fuck.

Here's the gist: No one will say that lying, obfuscation, and bullshitting is good for capitalism and the free market. The only time anyone gets close to saying that is when they have an agenda- like transparency hurting their bottom line. That's when you hear things like "Sausages and Laws". (The idea being both are such horrible things to make that no one should be forced to know what goes into them.)

And, to be fair, I'm not- always- talking about knowing 100% about how something is made. Though, current research into things like Creative Commons, GNU, and Open-Source strategies are showing that 100% transparency is viable.

Let's start over.

The Financial Crisis is wholly due to a lack of transparency in a number of systems. The Arcane Economics of Banking meant that no one outside the industry- and few inside- could understand what was happening. More to the point, the absolute lack of transparency involved with Credit Default Swaps spread the housing collapse into almost every other sector of the world and the economy.

Banks were allowed to make these Swaps with each other, and no one (including the banks making the swaps) knew or had to be told ANYTHING!

Pork belly projects, signing statements, and line item vetoes along with energy strategy meetings, White House leaks of covert CIA personnel, etc etc

Neither Democracy nor the Free Market work well without informed consumers. The voters are the consumers of the government. Back door deals, bribery, extortion, no-bid contracts, all of these things can happen easily when no one has the power or ability to see what's happening. And all of them become infinitely harder when everyone can see everything.

Banks would have never been allowed to take out 60 trillion worth of Credit Default Swaps on 5 trillion worth of bonds if the public would have been aware of what was going on.

Take your favorite government scandal or screw-up and imagine if everything that your elected officials did was available for the purview of the constituency.

Are there times in government when transparency is a potential risk? National Security, for instance?

Sure, I'll grant that- though I'm sure arguments can be made against the idea. So maybe government needs some protections; but I'd challenge any libertarian to show that "smaller government" or "closer government" is significantly better than "open" or "transparent" government.

Consumers must be allowed to make informed decisions. Not because they all will; but because some will, and those few will influence a few more and a few more and a few more, until there's a critical mass. When was the last time a company tanked because they did something out in the open that everyone could see? Enron? Nope. Worldcom? Nope. The Banks? Nope. All of 'em were hiding things behind closed doors.

Imagine if you weren't allowed to see the price of a beverage.

Imagine if you knew purchasing a beverage would cost 2 $US, but you had no idea how much of that was the actual price, and how much was markup/taxes/whatever.

Imagine you were hired but the company you worked for didn't have to tell you how much you were making. Imagine they just said "We'll pay you enough for room, board, and a vehicular allowance." Is that millions for a benz, mansion, and caviar, or hundreds for an economy apartment, some ramen, and the occasional taxi?

Transparency is a must.

I suggest we convey that to our legislatures, our judges, and our businesses. If the current economic problems aren't enough incentive, I have no idea what would be...