It’s a matter of trust
Comment by Italo Colantone
Perceptions versus reality – as far as the ‘crisis of trust,’ the dynamics at play are more complex than the prevailing narrative would lead us to imagine
The trend
We’re living through a crisis of trust - toward institutions, politicians, the media, the corporate world, and even other people, across the board. At least that’s what we’re led to believe by the prevailing narrative proliferated via information channels and accepted by people everywhere. But if we take a closer look at the opinion polls, the reality is much more nuanced than that. It’s true that in most countries trust is undeniably low, but it’s been the same story for decades. In actual fact, in some places there’s actually been a slight rise in the level of trust. So maybe the new take on this old story is something else: the political and economic elite, who find themselves under fire from the ‘sirens of populism’, are losing their sense of security in their role. So they’re paying more attention than ever before to the perceptions of the populace.