Survey studies global government trust
TEXT OF INTERVIEW
Steve Chiotakis: Encouraging news for those with political or business power: communications firm Edelman will present its annual “trust” survey at the World Economic Forum in Davos tomorrow. Marketplace’s Mitchell Hartman is with us live to talk about it. Good morning, Mitchell.
Mitchell Hartman: Good morning, Steve.
Chiotakis: So this survey when it was released last year at Davos was dubbed a “trust Armageddon” because faith in leaders around the world had just plummeted in the economic crisis. Are things a little better now?
Hartman: Um, yeah, they’re somewhat better. Here are a few examples from this survey, which talks to well-educated, middle and upper-income people around the world in 22 countries. So trust in government, which has been rising since the financial crisis began, in U.S. it’s up from 30 [percent] to 43 percent. In China, by the way, it has held steady above 75 percent. CEOs are more trusted this year than last, and so are nongovernmental organizations. Matt Harrington of Edelman says the results show a growing optimism that business and government leaders have shepherded their institutions well enough through the crisis.
Matt Harrington: But it’s cautious optimism, and they need to see that companies have taken some lessons from the last 18 months and aren’t going to return to old ways.
Chiotakis: And Mitchell, quickly, are there any warnings here for leaders?
Hartman: There are, especially for bankers. Trust in bankers in the U.S. is down below 30 percent. It was at nearly 70 percent just two years ago.
Chiotakis: All right, Mitchell Hartman joining us this morning live, and this week, Marketplace’s Stephen Beard will be reporting from Davos at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.
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