Why To Trust? Trust is expensive, which is another way to say it’s valuable. But it’s also free — among the most valuable assets you can build are not lying and demonstrating competence. We’re in an era of overpromising, and it often feels there are few consequences for exaggerating, or just outright lying. But the truth is like air trapped underwater. Eventually, the plates shift and the truth bubbles up to the sunlight. The benefits of trust apply to nations as well as individuals. For every standard deviation increase in a nation’s trust, bilateral trade increases 90% to 150%. In countries with low levels of trust, investment skews disproportionately toward projects with short time horizons. Lower trust is also correlated with lower GDP per capita. Put it this way: over the long term, fomenting trust can make you rich.