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How Much Do We Trust Our Banks, Media, and Government? NOT MUCH!

By Larry Doyle on January 30, 2011 at 11:30 AM in Current Affairs

If you do not trust an individual, a company, an industry, or any entity, how can you really do business with them? At the very least, how or why would you want to engage them? The simple fact is without trust, nobody really wants to engage.

Why are banks, the media, and our government finding it so difficult to get things done and grow their footprint and influence with American consumers, investors, and the populace at large? To an ever increasing extent, Americans do not trust our banks, our media, and our government. Why is that?

Americans know and feel that these industries and bodies have violated their trust. Once, twice, multiple times burned, Americans are now not so quick to trust. Can you blame them?

The 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer (slide presentation below) presents fascinating insights into the question of trust across industries and nations. I would discount some of the exceptionally high ratings from certain nations, specifically China. That said, take the 4-5 minutes to review this presentation.

Focus on slide 14 specifically and look at the rankings for how little we trust banks in the United States.

Slide 20 highlights the power of the internet as the primary means for people looking for information.

Slide 24 displays The Transformation of Trust from the old business model to one that is defined by transparency, profit with purpose, and engagement (dare I say, truth, transparency, and integrity).

Whether you are in business, a consumer, a student, or merely interested in the pulse of our nation, I strongly encourage you to review the 2011 Edelman Trust Barometer. (As a side note, in the presentation NGO stands for non-government organization.)

Accentuating trust is not only the best approach to business, but no doubt it is the best approach to life.

2011 Edelman Trust Barometer: Global & Country Insights
View more presentations from Edelman Digital.

Larry Doyle

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I have no affiliation or business interest with any entity referenced in this commentary. The opinions expressed are my own and not those of Greenwich Investment Management. As President of Greenwich Investment Management, an SEC regulated privately held registered investment adviser, I am merely a proponent of real transparency within our markets so that investor confidence and investor protection can be achieved.



This entry was posted on Thursday, January 27th, 2011 at 8:26 AM and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

From Larry’s blog, Sense on Cents.

  • JimTicehurst

    Good Presentation Larry…Very Interesting and relevent…So many Problems..so much to consider..

  • Diana L. C.

    Thanks, Larry!  I do little in regard to dealing with banks, only my meager retirement funds and have been pretty pleased with the way our state retirement fund was forced to undergo some changes to ensure its stability. 

    Right now in regard to government, I have little trust–especially after reading a long news exposé about one of my county commissioners and the absolute nepostism she has been able to get away with–practically her whole family running the show.  But my major distruct came with the selection of an incompetent nobody to the highest post in the country for political party purposes.

    Which brings me to the media—there I am the most angry.  But, I think we need to add another entity to the list of those we distruct and which need to learn how to rebuild our trust:  the educational system.  Who trained these idiots running the media today?  Is it that business rather than actual journalists are running the media today, but how did they find all these people without a clue?

    So, yes, I basically need a free uncensored internet.

    Interesting post.

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  • PssttCmere

    We have no reason to trust any financial institution these days…jmo

    “Say What You Will…It Feels So Good”

    http://www.saywhatyouwill.proboards.com

  • tek

    Larry, this article is interesting because I recently read a Forbes article on the happiest countries. One of the questions was “how much do you trust your government?” In the best countries the people trust their governments and care about their fellow citizens.

  • JimTicehurst

    Larry..I Think you Could Throw some of the Players on wall Street in that Mix..and everyone else david Faver exposed as being responsible for the GREED behind the Financial Collapse ..Bond manipulations and hedge Fund Players…After that..Its No wonder the Middle class and Average Investor..can’t trust much of anyone..Top down to the State and local level..no wonder the average citizen   feels insecure and Unhappy..

  • Mr. Natural

    Always remember that, “Trust me!,” and, “You can trust me!,” are shibboleths for, “fuck you, idiot!”

    In the Southeast, that also includes the phrase, “My word is my bond!”

  • FrenchNail

    I have gone cash for a year now. I do NOT trust the banks a bit. In fact I hate them. As you know I got caught in the ARPS. And because my bank sold my account without my authorization to another looser bank, I am still unable to recover my loss. Etrade is refusing to come to the table because they are hedging on bankruptcy themselves. I did not choose to enter a relationship with Etrade. I was forced into it. Nonetheless, the Harris Bank I had chosen to trade with is washing its hands of the whole problem.

    I will never invest in any banking instruments again and do not get me started with Wall Street at large. Most of those guys should be in jail, for political campaign illegal contributions and laundering of foreign contributions if nothing else.

    I saw the movie fair game the other day (very good) and I could not agree more when Ambassador Wilson is comparing corruption in US to corruption in Sierra Leone.

    Bottom line not only I distrust the banks, wall street and washington at large. I HATE THEM.

  • JB in VA

    Larry D, thank you for this very interesting post. 

    I am only surprised that any of the trust indices are as high as they are, after everything that’s happened since Enron, or even before that, going back to the S&L meltdown and Black Friday in the 80s. Perhaps these still high ratings are a function of the respondents being college educated and high income, and therefore more emotionally and otherwise invested in believing the institutions they personally benefit from are responsible and trustworthy actors. 

    If this analysis looked at middle or lower income folks or people even less well off, I imagine the trust factor on nearly all counts would be in the basement.