The Economics of Integrity: From Dairy Farmers to Toyota, How Wealth Is Built on Trust and What That Means for Our Future
We rarely stop to think how many of the things we rely on everyday depend on a system of trust. We don’t give a second thought to whether the milk we serve our children is safe to drink, but its safety depends on every one of the 15 or more people who handle and process it before it reaches our table. We depend on the trust of others not just to keep our food safe but also to keep our bank and other financial records safe. Bernasek examines a number of industries in which trust, integrity, and brand-reputation are integral to economic success, and also discusses how and why that integrity broke down in the financial crisis of 2008. She shows how companies like Toyota and L.L. Bean have built customer loyalty by going above and beyond what most corporations do to stand behind their products and demonstrates how the financial industry can advance its reputation by learning from these models. --David Siegfried