The World Economic Forum released what it calls a “global public opinion poll” that asks the question, who do you trust? The results suggest that planet Earth has indeed lost that lovin’ feelin.
The same set of questions has been put to representative samples of citizens around the world since January 2001. The major findings from this year’s poll are:
• Public trust levels in national governments, the United Nations and global companies are now at their lowest since tracking began in January 2001.
• Since 2004, trust in government has declined by statistically significant margins in 12 of the 16 countries for which tracking is available. The Russian government is the only exception, enjoying continuously increasing trust from its citizens since 2001.
• The United Nations, while continuing to receive higher trust levels than other institutions, has experienced a significant decline in trust from 2004 levels in 12 of 17 tracking countries, suggesting an impact from the scandal over the Oil for Food Program.
• Public trust in companies has also eroded over the last two years. After recovering trust in 2004 to pre-Enron levels, trust has since declined for both large national companies and for global companies. Trust in global companies is now at its lowest level since tracking began.
Thanks to Digital Influence Mapping for the tip.
