There is a company called Brightscope, that has been rating most of the big 401(k) plans and this has certainly ruffled a few feathers in the investment advisor business (see full article here). Although it is far away from an open source model, in the spirit of what Cathy proposes, because it is unclear exactly how Brighscope itself rates the plans, this is still an indication that there is public demand for such things and perhaps a first step of sorts in the “open” direction. If Brightscope made available it’s rating system that might help elucidate the situation. In addition, and in a Wikileaks type move, the company put the names and disciplinary records of thousands of stockbrokers and investment advisors.
Perhaps it is time to create open source models to rate a variety of companies and public goods, especially ones that require more expertise and technical knowledge.
notjustmath 