Courtesy of Larry Doyle.
What is the basis of any relationship?
Trust.
How much do you want to engage somebody if you have little to no trust in that individual or institution? Obviously not much. A healthy society is one in which trust is pervasive. The premise and foundation of trust within our relationships allows for the free flow of information, capital, and goods. Everybody benefits.
Regrettably, our nation has an enormous trust deficit currently. Why so? Once violated, trust does not easily or quickly return or regenerate. Although many within positions of leadership in our nation would like to present the rebound in our markets and supposedly within our economy as indicative of a return to a healthy nation, they are FOOLS if they truly believe that. Why so?
When it comes to the basic principle of trust, most in our nation display the “once, twice, thrice times burned, four, five, six times shy.” Only 1 in 5 trust our banks today down from 1 in 2 a mere 5 to 6 years ago. (to be fair, I am going to define banks as the major money center banks). How about our media and Congressional representatives? A similar 1 in 5 trust our media but only about 1 in 8 people trust our Congressional representatives.
The WSJ provides the graph and more details in writing, How a Trust Deficit Is Hurting Our Economy.
This is not healthy, folks. Without trust, our economy will continue to languish. Make no mistake, though, the lack of trust is merely another barometer of failed leadership within these institutions.
How does America regain trust?
Promote truth and honesty even when the truth hurts and the honesty is ugly. The pain passes and the ugliness fades. Real leaders understand that.
Where are our ‘supposed’ leaders? In bed with each other . . . but it is the American public that is really getting screwed.
Navigate accordingly.
Larry Doyle
I have no business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own. I am a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.
