Trust
by Francis Fukuyama · first published 1995
40% recommend60% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Explores how trust shapes economic prosperity and social organization across cultures; a useful starting point for readers curious about the link between social virtues and economic life.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
In Trust, a sweeping assessment of the emerging global economic order "after History," Fukuyama examines a wide range of national cultures in order to divine the hidden principles that make a good and prosperous society, and his findings strongly challenge the orthodoxies of both left and right. In fact, economic life is pervaded by culture and depends, Fukuyama maintains, on moral bonds of social trust. This is the unspoken, unwritten bond between fellow citizens that facilitates transactions, empowers individual creativity, and justifies collective action. In the global struggle for econom
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…Edward Bernays; Pitch anything - Oren Klaff; Guns, Germs and Steel - Jared Diamond; How to win friends and influence people& Stop worrying (both by Dale Carnegie); The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins; Trust - Francis Fukuyama;
on “Ask HN: What books have made the biggest impact on your mental models?” ↗A few good reads on the topic are F. Fukuyama "Trust: Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity" and P. Collier "The bottom Billion" and "Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places".
on “China Is Already Blocking Google+” ↗…many Grameen credits are given to groups that mutually guarantee their credit! If one person fails to pay back, the others have to pay back for this person. People learn by that to work together and to trust each other (building social capital, the very basis of every lasting economic development, read "F.Fukuyama, Trust - Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity" for example). Just handing out little…
on “Microcredit examined: stimulates enterprise but doesn't help poverty” ↗Trust is arguably the most expensive thing in society. For those looking for a fun read about trust read some Francis Fukuyama.
on “AWS and Blockchain” ↗Francis Fukuyama wrote a book about it, called "Trust: Social Virtues and Creation of Prosperity". Even though it's the same Fukuyama who declared the end of history the book has some insights into the phenomena [1]. [1] https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/1996-0...
on “How to stop turmeric from killing people” ↗Trust by Francis Fukuyama explores this relation if you want more meat than comments on a board.
There's a lot of research in this area. You might not like the conclusions. Fukuyama (Trust) or Putnam (Bowling Alone) might be a good place to start, or here is a public paper by Putnam: https://www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com/pdf/j.1467-9477.... Here's another prominent paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00472...…
on “Mag Wealth (2024)” ↗http://www.amazon.com/Trust-Social-Virtues-Creation-Prosperi...
on “If no-one helps you after a car crash in India, this is why” ↗What is a functional disporia? From what my Chinese relatives say, most Chinese businesses are family businesses. Fukuyama's Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity confirms this, and says that it naturally imposes a size limit. So that may explain the underrepresentation in public corporations.
on “The Chinese Decade” ↗My step-mother was Chinese, and came from a very large family, with very strong family values. That was usual. They also ran a very successful business. Also usual. Fukuyama's "Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity" confirmed that large Chinese families work well as the basis of a business (but larger scales can be problematic). It was only when a 24yo postgrad…
on “Chinese Bias for Baby Boys Creates a Gap of 32 Million ” ↗…informal labor isn't reflected in nominal GDP. See my reply elsethread. IIRC, I first came across the claim about women disrupting the labor economy in one of Francis Fukuyama's books, probably either "Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity" (1995) or "The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order" (1999). It's been awhile since I read it, however; but I've read…
on “The case against GDP: time to change the way we measure the wealth of nations” ↗The low/high trust distinction for many writers (e.g., Fukuyama in Trust) isn't primarily about trust in government to be uncorrupt (or even societal trust in government more generally), but rather about a shared consensus…
on “Transiting the Suez Canal in a Private Sailboat (2003)” ↗Seems to me the US and Dutch societies have moved even further apart when it comes to social trust/social capital. e.g. Fukuyama's warned the US about in 1992's "Trust: The Social Virtues and The Creation of Prosperity" has happened. Everything gets easier, when you live in a high-trust society--unfortunately…
on “Amsterdam supermarket offers free groceries, life coach to struggling families” ↗Francis Fukuyama is now arguing that the US in now a substantiantively lower trust society than it was in 1995 when he published his second book "Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity." >In it I argued that trust is among the most precious of social qualities, because…
on “Why Japan has such good railways” ↗…consolidation of power and collective decline and genuine grievances ignored, the other has demonstrated the ability to make new technology increase the collective well being of everybody. It's the low vs. high trust society, see the inverse of Francis Fukuyama's 1996 book Trust.
on “Meta's Embrace of A.I. Is Making Its Employees Miserable” ↗