All successful (stable) complex systems rely on feedback internally and externally to thrive and survive. This includes, biological and social systems. Capitalism is one such system. You vote with your dollars and things happen all the way up and down a supply chain. Governments are a little slower to respond, because quite often they have a monopoly on various services and the Ballot box is a fuzzy feedback device. In many countries the ballot box may not be an option.
This week the OECD announced something called the Istanbul declaration. This small declaration asks for more public information and desires to treat govt. statistics as a public good. This could definitely help turn things around in many countries by improving bureaucracy and poor policy, the primary causes of corruption. This is a long term goal and the Istanbul declaration is tiny drop in a huge ocean, but a welcomed none the less.
Did you know that in China, some macroeconomic information is considered a state secret and thus can subject the discloser to potential death for releasing it. In theory even projecting such data could lead to punishment. Economics can be a dangerous profession.