Opinion

The world is running a trust deficit. Can governments regain trust in the time of coronavirus?

Inequality and fake news are undermining trust worldwide. Notably, however, Chinese trust Beijing more than Americans trust Washington

Out of the coronavirus crisis will come the winners – the institutions able to inspire trust

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Pedestrians wear masks while walking in New York on February 27. Photo: Bloomberg

Andrew Sheng is a former central banker and financial regulator, currently distinguished fellow at the Asia Global Institute, University of Hong Kong.

Published: 8:00pm, 28 Feb 2020Updated: 8:21pm, 28 Feb 2020

With the coronavirus outbreak now spreading faster outside China than in it, there is a sense around the world that things are seriously not OK. As the world moves from a unipolar order to a multipolar order, it is hitting a difficult patch. When everyone is being bombarded every day with unpredictable man-made and natural disasters, or fake news, small wonder that there is a serious trust deficit worldwide.

The nation-state was created when people came together to form a collective bulwark against common and unpredictable threats. Generally, individuals put their trust in others on the assumption that someone will take care of the known and unknown risks they face.

Trust takes the form of private or social contracts. When the state loses public trust, the consequences can range from social protests to civil war to a wider conflict involving other states – as amply demonstrated in Syria.

Elsewhere, whenever social capital fragments, trust breaks: people are reduced to either trusting no one, or trusting only groups they have family, ethnic or religious ties with. Some individuals protest, others vote for change, while many more vote with their feet, migrating or simply running away.

The US communications company Edelman, which has measured trust in core institutions in various markets for 20 years, reports the world’s changing sentiment. Economic growth engendered trust in the past, but now growing inequality is undermining trust.