And once trust breaks down, the system itself collapses. What is worrisome in today's troubled economy is that trust seems to be dissolving before our eyes. Why have banks stopped lending? Why are people pulling their money out of the stock market, driving down the Dow and NASDAQ? Why are people afraid to buy houses?
It all boils down to trust. Banks don't trust that debtors -- companies, individuals, even other banks -- will pay back the money they lend, so they stop lending. Investors don't trust that companies will be able to earn profits in the near future, so they stop investing. Ordinary people don't trust that the home they buy will be worth what they paid for it in a year or even a few months, so they hesitate buying.
This breakdown in trust feeds on itself. Distrust becomes self-perpetuating and contagious.
The challenge will be how best to restore trust -- and to do so in ways that do not jeopardize freedom or the efficiencies of the market. As Ferguson's book illustrates, larcenies like the Madoff scheme or stock and real estate bubbles like the ones we've experienced over the last decade are nothing new and will, no doubt, occur again. But if we are to live and prosper in communities that extend beyond our immediate family members we must fall back on mutual trust, even when it sometimes fails us.