How invisible are the Emperor's new clothes?

This is the first critical analysis of transparent costing as part of the New Public Management ethos. Although emerging in higher education, transparency is of wider interest because it is likely to influence budgeting in public services generally. Transparent costing initiatives are reviewed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, before focusing on the more developed UK Transparent Approach to Costing (TRAC). This introduces the idea of costing myopia in public policy: short-sightedness arising from a narrow focus on costs rather than a broader strategic focus. Cross-subsidization behaviour is used to illustrate this, with empirical data indicating that widespread cross-subsidization occurs within higher education institutions and suggesting a divide between 'soft' and 'hard' managerialism within institutions. Cross-subsidization is a consequence of micro and macro financial, economic and socio-political influences. These are presented as components of a multi-dimensional model to assist policy makers towards a less myopic view of costing.