Dear Editor,

The Stabroek News editorial on Thursday January 5, 2012, ‘A matter of trust‘ has given much food for thought in this new dispensation at a most critical juncture in Guyana’s political history. Interestingly, nearly a decade ago the Economist, February 17, 2001, carried an article with a similar headline in its ‘Economic Focus‘ page that gives both a theoretical and empirical analysis of trust.

Trust is like glue that bonds people together in society. It is very important in the matrix capitalist society since exchange, payment, ECT, cannot take place freely without trust. Strong societal values, especially family values, are based on trust. Researchers are today conducting quantitative analysis of trust by observing behavioural patterns in an effort to produce stylized facts.
The Economist article argued “even in rules-based litigious society, some measure of trust is essential. Contracts cannot plan for every eventuality and outcomes are hard to verify.

“The issue of trust is much more pressing in emerging economies whose threadbare legal systems and poor enforcement offer little assurance,” and I will go further to state more so for an emerging democracy. Trust is essential for all societies to exist.

Research into modelling trust and behavioural patterns was published in a very incisive paper,  ‘Measuring Trust‘ by Edward L Ghaeser et al, in the Quarterly Journal of Economics (August 2000). Utilizing the game theory he found that trust responded more to previous acquaintance than incentives. Rather, “behaviour such as reciprocity and cooperation is not bred in the bone – it responds to experience.”

The economist concluded that “trust is a fragile thing, prone to break down altogether. The lesson? A handshake is no substitute for ready money or a hard-earned reputation.” I therefore  disagree with the Stabroek News editorial argument on trust because of the current impasse on the selection of a Speaker that seemed to be dragging out.

The new configuration in parliament requires each party to bring their negotiating skill to the bargaining table. When Barack Obama, the most powerful president in the world, on CBS Sixty Minutes two weeks ago stated that he would have to keep on talking to his nemesis Eric Cantor, the US House Majority Leader, in an effort to convince him to compromise on his economic policies is an indication that even in a mature democracy there is no shortcut to trust.

A bi-partisan approach takes time and is sometimes long, but it is still superior to a self-imposed solution. After all quick fixes and ‘big push’ methods have not been able to sustain development in the long run, but trust has.  Let me state that even though a higher degree of trust exists among Guyanese of different ethnic origins socially and culturally, it is only politically that this trust is found wanting.

The new dispensation has entirely new faces at the helm of leadership politically and they should be given adequate space to cultivate that trust. This will be a win-win situation for all Guyana.

Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Rampersaud