President Obama recently held a White House Forum on Modernizing Government with more than 50 corporate executives to discuss how the federal government can make better use of cutting-edge technologies. As the president explained, it is unconscionable that "there are still places in the federal government where reams of yellow files in manila envelopes are walked from desk to desk." He set many of the right goals: making more information available to the public, ensuring that documents are online as well as in print, and making greater use of social media.

But these are only half steps toward making government transparent and accountable. Even if available on the Internet, government reports, regulations and required forms are still inaccessible if they are written in gobbledygook.

President Obama often says, "Let me be clear." The entire federal government, as well as the industries that it subsidizes and regulates, should uphold this standard of intelligibility.

The current economic emergency and the collapse in confidence in large institutions, public and private, reflect a crisis of complexity. In disaster after disaster, the common denominator is widespread acceptance of arcane propositions that were never clearly explained. Many Americans took on mortgage debt without understanding the risks buried in stacks of paper. Bankers poured billions of dollars into bonds structured by financial engineers whose risk analyses were over their heads. Wealthy investors fell victim to a multibillion-dollar scam that few ever questioned.

Meanwhile, many Americans are watching their credit card fees rise without understanding why. We get health care bills and benefit statements that read like gibberish. And we struggle with incomprehensible government documents.

Yes, there are reasons why government and complexity go together like dogs and hydrants. First, many public officials think that everything they say must sound "official." Second, new laws keep getting passed, old laws keep getting amended, and all laws generate reams of regulations. Third, there's individual and institutional self-protection — covering your posterior, rather than communicating with the public.

Still, in a democracy, government must communicate clearly. When Americans can't figure out how to answer census questions, complete tax forms or qualify for small-business assistance, the economy suffers, federal revenues decline and confidence in government sinks to new lows. But, when our leaders communicate clearly, Americans answer appeals for action, from President Franklin Roosevelt's declaration, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," to President Kennedy's call, "Ask what you can do for your country." In fact, President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address took only two minutes and 246 words.

Fortunately, President Obama understands this. On his first full day in office, he issued a memo calling for transparency in government. The Office of Management and Budget, the Office of Personnel Management and the Homeland Security Department, as well as other agencies, all are taking steps to communicate clearly.

But, unless the administration makes clarity a top priority, day in and day out, gobbledygook won't go away. In different ways, Presidents Carter, Reagan and Clinton all made some strides toward simplicity in government communications, but bureaucratese burrowed deep and survived to muddle and mumble through another decade.

Clarity in communications means more than putting documents online or translating some into plain language. Curing the crisis of complexity means that everything the government says and does, writes and requires, must be comprehensible to the citizens and taxpayers. And industries that have befuddled consumers, from credit card companies to mortgage lenders, must make themselves intelligible to the public.

Facing problems from recession to terrorism, Americans need their leaders to inspire and inform. When the president says, "Let me be clear," let him extend this commitment to the government he leads.

Alan Siegel is founder and chairman of Siegel+Gale, a global strategic branding firm.