In the past couple of months, the global supply of what is arguably our most important commodity has taken a massive hit.
We are not talking here about reasonably priced coffee, job security or even ‘common sense’ – though each has arguably become significantly rarer in that time.
No, the biggest casualty has been trust, and that should worry us all.
You might be thinking that, outside family and a circle of close friends, trust is not really a thing and, anyway, it has been in short supply for a long time.
But the evidence says that, in both instances, that is not actually the case.
In fact, it is trust – more than oil, more than mobile phones, more than You Tube – that makes the world go round.
Just think about how much trust is involved in an everyday transaction like ordering a home-delivered pizza online. You choose the restaurant, select the pizza (and probably a drink and, maybe, that cheesecake you like), enter your credit card details and hit ‘Order’, all without talking to a soul.
You are trusting that the store exists, that it makes pizzas that are safe to eat and come as described in the menu and that the payment system it uses is secure. Then there is trust that your meal will be handled and delivered hygienically and as expected, and that your personal details will be managed securely.
Sure, there are theoretically safeguards in place that can be used if something goes wrong at any step of the process, including police, banks and financial system regulators and social mechanisms like Google reviews.
But using any of them takes time and effort – of the kind that could quickly outweigh the convenience of a home-delivered meal. Would you really call the police if a pizza order went awry? Maybe, but quite probably not.
It is actually trust that makes everyday transactions like this feasible.
The alternative would be to personally deal with each person in the process, check that they are who they are, ask to see the systems they use to make the food, manage the credit card payment, select the delivery driver, then contact the delivery driver to check their bona fides etc etc. It would quickly become unfeasible.
Trust is also involved in transactions between businesses and between nations.
When countries sign up to a deal to abolish tariffs or accord reciprocal rights to their citizens or agree on a common set of regulations, they trust that each will abide by the terms of the agreement.
Of course, this trust is qualified. It is usually backed by a system of monitoring and reporting to help ensure there is no backsliding.
It is the same in the welfare system. The government provides a payment, but in exchange the recipient has to show that they meet the eligibility criteria.
These accountability systems don’t come cheap, and contribute mightily to the “inefficiencies” that Musk/DOGE is supposedly targeting. But they are essential in helping build and maintain confidence that things are working as intended.
Having confidence in government systems allows most of us to get on with our lives without having to worry about whether, for example, dangerous cars could be imported and let loose on our roads, or that the water coming from our taps is safe to drink.
Heavens, it might even enable someone born into privilege and wealth to amass an outrageous fortune.
Something for those currently assaulting the foundations of trust to ponder.
Outlier 