Six-Chart Sunday – All Trust is Local, 2026
6 Infographics + 1 Video (What soccer players do post-World Cup)
The world is suffering from a Trust Recession. We've lost confidence in the policies, parties & institutions that govern our lives — systems built in the 20th century that keep failing the tests of the 21st. Their flaws get exposed by the radical transparency of the internet & amplified by modern media. We feel anxious, frustrated and angry. So we demand change.
But trust is a nuanced thing. While we've lost faith in institutions we only know from a distance, we retain far greater confidence in the people and organizations we deal with face-to-face. The Trust Recession makes navigating today's technological, geopolitical and social disruptions even harder. But it creates real opportunities for leaders, brands and entrepreneurs who understand one thing: all trust is local. Here's our look at the trends.
1. Americans trust nearly every major institution a lot less than they did 50 years ago.
2. Trust in local institutions is significantly higher than trust in national institutions. The closer we are, the more we trust.
3. Around the world, people are losing trust in remote institutions while gaining trust in those closer to home.
4. Familiarity breeds trust across every age group — but younger generations start from a lower baseline.
5. Americans have more confidence in their own ability to achieve the American Dream than trust in the system to provide opportunity for everyone.
6. Workers who use AI are likelier to see its benefits without materially greater fear it will replace their jobs.
SO WHAT
For leaders, there’s only one way to survive a Trust Recession: show up. Listen to your employees. Visit your customers. Educate your policymakers. People trust those they know. If you’re not telling your own story, someone else is telling it for you — don’t expect them to get it right or be kind. Absent leaders get defined by their critics. Present ones define themselves.
VIDEO
Ever wonder where soccer players go once the World Cup ends? We investigated:
Fabulous choice for the 6-chart message today! I think institutional trust will require up to 4 variables to rebuild across distance. 1) The Intent of the organization, 2) The Competence of the group at achieving its mission, 3) A dose of Humility in a complex world, and 4) A Disinterested approach to handling issues. Failures at points 1 and 2 breed skepticism. If intent is bad, trust is gone. If intent sounds good and reality doesn't match, you feel the bait-and-switch. Politics resembles this too often. If intent is good but competence is bad, you just end up disappointed. Failures at 3 and 4 are more nuanced. We live in a world of bravado and high ambition. We have so much info we expect certainty of facts. The world turns on sales, so we sell everything with claims that may not hold up under scrutiny. Yet, complexity may suggest to us that we acknowledge what we don't know and give truer explanations for what is happening around us. The last point - disinterestedness - underscores the first, intent. Can some institutions break out of the self-serving ethos in which we live and demonstrate the capacity to make decisions for the general welfare? Would trust increase if people could see institutions step beyond the "what's in it for me?" mentality.
I have skipped addressing the distance factor, but that is certainly an element. When we have personal contact, we are far more likely to make correct judgements about the foundations of trust--intent and competence. Without personal connection, we are absorbing conflicting messaging and narratives that undermine some of what builds trust for institutions. Again, good post today!
Great thoughts! Trust is everything. Without it, communism