It is almost an article of faith that more accurate and transparent budget information leads to a better budget process, and (presumably) better budget outcomes. The International Monetary Fund, for example, in its Code of Fiscal Transparency, holds countries to standards such as public availability of information and openness of budget preparation, execution, and reporting.1 These standards are hard to dispute. The failure to maintain openness and allow access to information can lead to all sorts of undesirable outcomes, from the simple lack of congruence between resource allocation and public preferences to extreme cases such as corruption.