Is sunlight the best disinfectant?
How freedom of information can inform public debate and lead to better public policy. Co-authored with Nils Mulvad. First published in the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s SubsidyWatch Newsletter, October 2006. Question: what do Prince Albert of Monaco, Ted Turner, Lufthansa, Congressman Marion Berry (D-AK), the Danish State Prison Service, Nestlé, the Duke of Westminster and Dutch Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman all have in common? Answer: they all receive large payments under the European Union and United States farm subsidy programs. Until recently, governments kept records of such payments in files marked ‘top secret’. But thanks to the achievements of investigative journalists, academic researchers and campaigning non-governmental organizations, light is now being shed on the question of who gets what — and why. In 1996, the Washington Post newspaper won a landmark court case forcing the US government to hand over lists of all farm subsidy payments. In 2002,
