Letters

摘要

Lexington challenged surveys showing that Americans are less trusting of each other and of government than they were in the 1960s and 1970s (December 7th). Political and social trust have indeed declined over time. Almost 60% of Americans believed that "most people can be trusted" in196o, compared with a third today. In1958 73% believed that they could trust the government most of the time (or always) compared with just19% in 2013. But trust in government goes up and down. It rose under Ronald Reagan and again under Bill Clinton (when the economy was recovering) and then once more after September 11th 2001. The economic downturn since 2008 has led to a sharp fall in faith in government.