By Tom Pryor
March 7, 2009

America’s recession can be resolved with an infusion of trust, not cash.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said “Our distrust is very expensive.” While he’s been dead 127 years, his statement holds true in 2009.

In “The Speed of Trust”, author Stephen Covey describes the cost of distrust as The Trust Tax. “When trust goes down, speed will also go down and costs will go up. When trust does up, speed will also go up and costs will go down.”

When trust is nonexistent, The Trust Tax is 80%. In the absence of trust, transactions between people and organizations take longer to consummate plus add costly contracts and oversight. Conversely, when trust is high, The Trust Tax is nonexistent. Deals are accomplished immediately with a handshake.

The root cause of America’s economic and cultural woes is lack of trust.

Trust can be restored. In his chapter on the topic, Covey says “Though it may be difficult, in most cases, lost trust can be restored – and often even enhanced!” Restoring trust takes time, creativity, commitment, hard work and significant changes.

I propose the following actions to restore trust in America:

1.     Restore Trust. Move Bernard Madoff from penthouse to prison immediately. Restore trust that rich criminals receive treatment no different than poor ones.

2.     Replace Trust. Replace 50% of the SEC lawyers with forensic accountants and certified fraud examiners. Lawyers overlooked finding Madoff’s Ponzi scheme multiple times. The AICPA, IMA and other professional accounting organizations need to return trust to investment transactions. They should propose and implement an auditing process investors can trust.

3.     Summit for Trust. President Obama should ask Stephen Covey to host a Trust Summit. To regain trust, the primary goal of the summit is to define the actions, not words; everyday Americans want to see performed by their government officials, financial institutions and business leaders.

4.     Turnover for Trust. Congress should pass legislation for President Obama’s signature that requires the Chairman of the Board, CEO, COO, President and 55%+ of the board of directors to resign if their company accepts bailout money from the US Treasury Department. Conversely, increased turnover in Congress will build trust. It’s time for term limits in the Senate and House of Representatives.

5.     Pray for trust. E. M. Bounds’ advice written one hundreds years ago still rings true today: “There is no place where trust grows so readily and richly as in the prayer closet.” Trust requires a firm foundation of faith and trust in God.

6.     Invent Trust. President Obama should ask Doug Hall of Eureka Ranch to host an Entrepreneurial Summit. Grow trust by growing businesses. Doug’s mantra is “If you’re not unique you better be cheap.” Doug has the unique ability and experience to empower, encourage and equip Americans to create a pipeline of new products, services and businesses.

7.     Measure Trust. Ask Dave Ramsey to create a TICO score. TICO will be a numerical measure of trust for individuals and organizations. Instead of FICO scores that focus on credit worthiness, TICO will focus Americans on growing trust worthiness.

Faith trumps hope. Trust is faith that has become absolute, approved, and accomplished. We all have a role to play to regain trust. Let’s begin today.