Virtually everyone wants more of it. Similar demands are made of the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Governments that say they have been stung by speculators want international investors to be more transparent in their activities, and there is a rush to expose to the light of day the shadowy hedge funds that make huge and sometimes dangerous gambles on international financial markets. The latest financial crisis is already far more ''open'' that any of its predecessors. Nongovernmental organizations, academics and policy institutions are piling into the debate, often via the Internet.
Openness is the culture of the age, and in most ways that is good.
In areas where major issues of personal or business privacy are at stake, lines will have to be drawn. But the trend toward transparency will not go away.