Hi °C | Lo °C The annual 'Trust Barometer' released yesterday by Edelman is packed with some fascinating insights.
It's no surprise that Irish people distrust the banking sector.
Anything else would be a pretty peculiar reaction for taxpayers settling into a decade of declining living standards and worsening state services, largely thanks to the banking bust.
But why then is business in general trusted more by most people than government? It's the case here and in 16 out of 26 countries surveyed.
It certainly explains the perennial call for Michael O'Leary to take over the Department of Health, though readers of 'Stubbs Gazette' will remember that the current minister, James Reilly, is no stranger to the business world himself.
Or he was, before opting to place his talents at the service of the State.
If advisers to Mr O'Leary happen to be reading, though, the findings are more nuanced still.
It seems people trust business in general, but not the particular people who happen to run them.
When it comes to public trust, chief executive officers like Mr O'Leary are regarded as only slightly more credible than government officials and regulators – like the minister.
Both sit at the bottom of the 'trust' heap. Academics, technical experts and Joe and Jill Public are held far higher in terms of public regard.
Irish Independent
