A key aspect of Trumps administration is uncertainty. He hires and fires ‘supporters’ at will. He changes his mind on an hourly basis and risks political ties. He uses his new found power for personal gain and to increase the wealth of the 1%. As The New Yorker points out: “Donald Trump will go down in history as the troll-in-chief” (Cassidy, 2017). And you never know what to expect from a troll.
This all leads to a steep decline in trust – in the administration, in politics, in the economy and in people and institutions across the country. And trust, or a change in trust, has impact on how people interact with each other. How business is done. If everybody is under investigation and nothing is certain, people will most likely hold back (crucial) information. This decreases transparency and hinders people from making certain choices. People want some sort of security – in personal life as in business.
Hence, unsurprisingly, this fall in trust stemming from Trump’s administration can already be felt, drastically. Read More