Edelman: People are done waiting for change
For 25 years, the Edelman Trust Barometer has given us an annual temperature check on how much faith people have in institutions. This year’s results are ice cold.
The new research paints a bleak picture:
61 percent of people globally feel a moderate or severe grievance toward business, government, media, and NGOs.
Trust inequality is growing—high-income individuals are 16 points more likely to trust institutions than low-income individuals.
And while trust in media and government continues its downward spiral, business remains the last institution standing. Not because people think corporations are perfect, but because they see business as the only institution both competent and ethical—mostly.
We’re in the "Era of the Billionaire,” where people watch the ultra-rich get wealthier, while everyone else struggles with traditional markers of economic mobility, like buying a home. Is it any surprise that people are frustrated, and willing to vote for anyone who can shake up the system? People don’t believe the system will ever work for them.