A Trust Crisis
Wave 2 Results

Of those surveyed, only 19 percent of Americans trust the financial system. The greatest level of trust is for banks (29 percent), with the lowest for large corporations (10 percent).

Stock Market Banks Mutual Funds Large Corporations

Additional results

With a new plan to deal with the financial crisis and an aura of goodwill surrounding the first days of Barack Obama’s presidency, trust in the stock market made slight gains in the first quarter of 2009, according to the most recent findings in the Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index. In contrast, trust toward banks and large corporations has continued to decline in the last three months, following recent headlines of corporate layoffs, executive bonuses, and banking disasters.

Co-authors Paola Sapienza (Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University) and Luigi Zingales (University of Chicago Booth School of Business) found that from Dec. 2008 to March 2009, the Financial Trust Index has dropped slightly from 20 percent to 19 percent, with its subcomponents showing distinct shifts in trust in both directions. Notably, the researchers report a slight increase in trust toward the stock market, from 11 percent in Dec. 2008 to 13 percent in March 2009.

At the same time, Sapienza and Zingales point out a substantial decrease in trust toward banks, from 34 percent in Dec. 2008 versus 29 percent in March 2009, and in large corporations, from 12 percent to 10 percent over the same time period.

Read More: Wave 1 Results | Wave 2 Results

 

GSB        Kellogg School of Management