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Lack of Trust – Caused by Institutional Corruption – Is Killing the Economy

Lack of Trust – Caused by Institutional Corruption – Is Killing the Economy

2012-05-06


People Are Losing Trust In All Institutions

The signs are everywhere: Americans have lost trust in our institutions.

The Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index published yesterday shows that only 22% of Americans trust the nation’s financial system.

SmartMoney notes today that more and more Americans are keeping valuables at home because they have lost trust in banks.

Robert Shiller said Monday:

Our whole economy has been affected by variations in confidence. Central banks are sort of trusted, but the actions they have often affect people’s confidence by appearance rather than substance. We’re not in the most trusting mood now.”

The National Journal noted last week:

 Lack of Trust   Caused by Institutional Corruption   Is Killing the Economy

Seven in 10 Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track; eight in 10 are dissatisfied with the way the nation is being governed. Only 23 percent have confidence in banks, and just 19 percent have confidence in big business. Less than half the population expresses “a great deal” of confidence in the public-school system or organized religion. “We have lost our gods,” says Laura Hansen, an assistant professor of sociology at Western New England University in Springfield, Mass. “We lost [faith] in the media: Remember Walter Cronkite? We lost it in our culture: You can’t point to a movie star who might inspire us, because we know too much about them. We lost it in politics, because we know too much about politicians’ lives. We’ve lost it—that basic sense of trust and confidence—in everything.”........





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