Who Do We Trust?

The pandemic has transformed and tested the world, with each new covid wave testing our resilience, determination, and tenacity to fight back.

The Fortune magazine recently reviewed the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, a global survey of society’s trust in and credibility of corporates, institutions, government, business CEOs, and political leaders and its impact on the growth and development of a nation. The survey says, that it’s a world of trauma today, and to that, we would further add to say, that for those who have lost lives and livelihood, it is one of grief too. The pandemic has transformed and tested the world, with each new covid wave testing our resilience, determination, and tenacity to fight back. It’s a pandemic that is challenging modern medicine and science to the hilt. It is also challenging the inherent strength of national economies to withstand the uncertainty, of both demand and supply and prevent a rollback of the country’s growth and prosperity.

With one subsided covid wave being followed by another, and yet another deadlier variant of the virus, the end is not yet in sight and uncertainty prevails. Never in human history have vaccines been approved so hurriedly by the regulators, effectively making humans the Guinea pigs. The virus is back with a vengeance even in smaller nations like Taiwan, Japan, and Singapore, which had controlled it and it continues to resurge fiercely in big countries like India. Even the USA, with over 40% of its population vaccinated, is not yet sure, it fears another wave and thus perhaps refuses to give its present surplus stockpile of vaccines, to needy nations like India.

Though with each covid wave, there has been more destruction of lives and livelihood, we yet know that we will ultimately overcome it. But what we do not know now, is at what cost would that be. If it’s a world of trauma, it is also one of tenacity, with a never-say-die spirit. The pandemic and the war against it, have tested public trust and faith in the government, institutions, corporates, CEOs, leaders, and in the public itself and that is what the findings of the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, are all about. In this survey 17000 persons participated, from a cross-section of society, from 14 countries, including India, consisting of what it calls well-educated and informed respondents and also the not so much educated and informed general public. There is a direct correlation between the levels of trust in society and national growth. The more the trust in the law of the land, institutions, and the government, the more is the willingness to take risks, spend and invest, all of which boost national growth.

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The top ten findings of the survey and its economic impact, in particular, are discussed below.

1. Do you trust that the vaccination will banish the prevailing public mindset of the fear of the pandemic, then as per the survey, the answer is no. It says that the world has not shed its pandemic mindset, as 70% of the respondents fear another pandemic and even those vaccinated, fear going back to the workplace and resuming normal activities. The pandemic has added to persistent personal and societal fear in general. It is perhaps this fear, that compels the Indian government to conserve its scarce resources, for another rainy day and hold back any fiscal policy response and is also further reflected in corporates not willing to hire, and migrant workers staying in their villages, unwilling to be hired in cities.
2. The second finding is that the trust gap between these sections of society has widened. While 71% of the informed and educated public has trust in the government, institutions, and corporates, only 58% of the mass public does so. And that’s because of the huge rise in inequalities and poverty in India, and the fact that the lower strata of society has suffered the most due to this pandemic, and thus feel that they have had a raw and unfair deal. The trust of the mass public has depleted in corporates, as well as in the government and interestingly in the NGOs too.
3. The pandemic has increased mental health issues and job loss, with 55% of the respondents have increased mental health problems and having lost jobs that may never come back, which is the worst negative consequence of the pandemic.
4. Societal leaders are not trusted, which includes religious leaders, government leaders, journalists, and corporate CEOs. In India, the trust in business CEOs has fallen to an all-time low, and has also fallen in government officials, which was anyway always low, but has now eroded even further. It is worth noting that this lack of trust has infected banks too, with wary bankers increasingly unwilling to lend. And this adversely impacts the ease of doing business in India.
5. The trust levels in public information and news sources are at record lows, including in social media, traditional media, and search engines. A mere 32% of respondents trust social media, just 52% trust traditional media, and 53% trust search engines. While social media has no authenticity checks and control whatsoever, the point of concern is the lack of faith and trust in traditional media.
   

   

    

6. Unsurprisingly, the government is not trusted in 10 out of 14 countries, including India, and government leaders are seen to be less honest than a year ago. It is the government’s lack of credibility, that remains a matter of deep concern and erodes a country’s growth rate.
7. Over 60% of those surveyed said that their country will not be able to overcome challenges without the involvement of the business, which is considered to be performing much better than the government, in driving economic growth and job creation.
8. The public expects the CEOs to hold the government accountable, and question the government officials, especially when indiscriminate laws are passed. The Indians largely believe, that the CEOs must lead on societal issues, should step in when the government does not fix societal problems, and should lead on change, without waiting for the government to impose it on them. Indians further believe that CEOs must hold themselves accountable, not just to the board of directors and the shareholders of their company, but to the public too.
9. Employees are becoming the most important stakeholder in society, and they expect their employers to look after their safety and upskilling. They also expect their company to act on societal issues like vaccine hesitancy and climate change.
10. Public-private partnerships are the key to addressing societal issues, and corporate CEOs must team up with government leaders. It shows a lack of faith, perhaps in the government’s ability as well as resources to deliver on national goals.

These findings of the Edelman survey match with those of the RBI and the CMIE, both of which report that public confidence, as a reflection of trust, has receded to all-time lows, which matches with GDP growth too at all-time lows.

And interestingly and most, unfortunately, the maximum distrust of and thus disappointment about is of the media. Almost 75% of the respondents feel that journalists and reporters are purposely trying to mislead people, by saying things that they know are false, or grossly exaggerated and that most news organizations are more concerned with supporting an ideology or political position than with informing the public. They think that the media is not doing well at being objective and non-partisan.