Trust in a Polarized Age

Trust in a Polarized Age by Kevin Vallier

Trust is critical for any society. If there is no trust, markets and governments will not function well. People must trust government policies for them to be effective. However, different sides disagree with what to implement and lose the trust of public. Those whose side is in power will have greater trust than those that don't. Homogeneous societies have a high degree of trust and can implement policies that require high government involvement. Policies that apply equally to everyone tend to engender higher trust. A moderate welfare state with universal benefits will work well. Means-testing welfare benefits can reduce trust. Non-recipients feel that others are free-riders and look down on those that receive benefits. Means testing also brings out incentives to manipulate the system, thus requiring greater costs in managing the program.

One interesting point brought up is how zoning is a sly means of contributing to income inequality. Those with the property encourage zoning to drive up the price of property. This makes housing hard to come by for those without. "Solutions" to the high housing costs often involve various income distribution schemes that take from everybody, rather than a simple elimination of zoning. The people that benefit from the high property costs encourage the plans as a means to deflect from the rent-seeking benefits they receive from the high property costs.

The book drifts from a discussion on trust to a general discussion of politics and government. There are criticisms of socialism and dismissal of anarchy, with the preferred structure being a liberal democracy. There are also discussions of who "dominates" a democracy and how to improve it (though with few workable solutions.)