Does mistrust, lack of empathy, lack of honesty undermine the economy?

If so, then what about this black-and-white, Manichean Bush world we steered into? Isn't that a one-way ticket to economic meltdown?

How the economy works has always mystified me. There is a constant exchange of goods and services going on. But what if a large segment of the population begins to think it is OK to be dishonest, to not return value for payment, to be faithless on loans or promises, to loaf, to game the system because they can. What if that segment of the population is actually admired merely for their ability to get theirs rather than for their ability to produce value? What if the economy starts to be full of nothing but lures and bait but no real food?

Seems like we have to start understanding each other, trusting one another (and being trustworthy) or we're all going to go broke or worse. Divisive, derisive, hair-trigger, impulsive leadership is the last thing we need. We need calm. We need to try to like each other.

One thing I like about Obama is that he is intelligent and thoughtful. People are fairly complicated, and I don't think it is possible to understand them without serious thought. The world in black-and-white is a worthless world. The good world is in color and hi def.

I've thought this for a long time. I eventually work out what a growing economy is; TV screens grow, hard discs grow, houses grow, cars grow, the amount of total utter indulgent fucking junk that people own just grows. And debt grows too.

Edit: typo

For one thing, realistic living wages would go a long way towards fixing the economy. Most of what happens with the economy is the result of the actions of 'rich white men' (for a lack of a better blanket term) who are so far removed from the realities of being poor and poverty.

To wit: what was that book that came out a few years ago written by the woman who disguised herself as poor and went to work at a Wal-Mart for a year. And she was shocked, shocked, shocked as were all her readers.

And more recently than that, I read a post here in DU about why don't people buy hybrids or electric cars given one thing and another. Good grief - wish I could!

although it never fails to impress how whenever minimum wage raises are brought up, there's always a contingent that claims that unemployement will raise dramitically (it doesn't- though despite the evidence, that remains the conventional wisdom).

Here's a goog example from Bloomber today:

Michigan Mayor

`I confess I've never heard banks charge interest to each other,'' said James Fouts, the mayor of Warren, Michigan, a Detroit suburb of 130,000 that is home to several General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC plants. ``I'm frightened by the financial situation. Wall Street is exacerbating and accelerating a doomsday scenario.''

Corporate bank loans are often linked to three-month Libor rates. Libor also affects interest costs on credit cards, student loans and adjustable-rate mortgages. From 2004 to 2006, more than half of the U.S. subprime mortgages at the root of the financial crisis, or those issued to the least creditworthy borrowers, had adjustable rates linked to Libor, said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance in Bethesda, Maryland.

Americans' lack of financial sophistication is a cause, not just a symptom, of the credit crunch, said James Bowers, managing director of the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy, a nonprofit group in Washington. It may be a reason people are willing to take out loans for homes they can't afford or add to credit card debt at adjustable rates.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=ahZ4C6T_mjfk&refer=home

People naturally feel mistrust when they're lied to & cheated. This is a useful survival mechanism.

Things don't change through moral exhortation; people give trust when it's deserved. In a dog-eat-dog world, trust is a liability.

He homed in on the word "trust" ... but essentially made the same argument. Said it was more about a shortage
of trust than about any amount of money to "bail out" the economy. Without restoring a degree of trust (i.e.
regulations and oversight needed), throwing good money after bad is not the solution.