There's a lot of literature in economics on information assymetries. This is the real problem. "Complete information" is a chimera and red herring. What's required is that both sellers and buyers in a market have something resembling equivalent data.

Note that in most markets this isn't the case, but other pressures often balance out the equation. Though there are famous cases where they don't. Retail gas and milk prices are two recent famous examples.

I'm having a conversation with a friend regarding what works about free software. One issue that's crucial, IMO, is the principle of transparency, and the idea that complexity is the enemy of programmers.

I believe the same principles carry over elsewhere. In business and politics, as in software, transparancy may increase embarassment from time to time, but it also does a hell of a job of keeping things straight and level. I'll note indirectly that the present administration, in its Enron dealings and elsewhere, is attempting to skirt just this transparency.