Opening Everybody's Books

Way back when, I had the experience of being in a union when I worked for Legal Aid. We were all covered by the collective bargaining agreement and so had a fair idea of what kind of money everybody made. During a merger process that was ongoing during my tenure, part of the process involved disclosures of what everybody earned - including the non-union folks from the other organization. Some of those folks were shocked at who made what (and didn't), apparently divorced from concepts of experience, seniority, etc.

That, in a microcosm, is what I expect would happen if the US followed the lead of Sweden, Finland, Norway, and (accidentally) Italy and made the tax returns of citizens public information. It's not a new concept:

Sweden's policy of making tax returns public — as in Finland and Norway — stems from a tradition of open records and transparency in government, except in cases of national security and some aspects of criminal investigations.

'The right of public access to documents is laid down in the constitution,' [Magnus] Graner [state secretary for Sweden's Justice Ministry], says of Sweden's practice since the 18th century.

Making the data public demonstrates the Scandinavian tradition of jantelag, which translates roughly as nobody is better than anyone else, says Veera Heinonen, spokeswoman for the Finish Embassy in London.

'Finland is a very egalitarian country, and it's a very high-tax society, so it provides checks and balances,' Heinonen says.

What's not clear from the article is whether those records truly "public" in the 21st century sense (i.e., on the Net) or just available to anyone who wants to slog through them. I'd be sort of intrigued to see how Roine Stolt or the guys from Beardfish and Ritual are making out.

I can't imagine Americans ever going for that sort of openness.