How the Financial System Can Regain Our Trust

The economy is acting like it was betrayed. That's what's to be gleaned from remarks made by Larry Summers and reported in the Wall Street Journal.

Summers said things like "it is a restoration of trust that is the essence..." and that regaining trust "is a process that takes time."

It sounds oddly like the financial system was having an affair, and the economy has found out and feels wounded.

It will be hard to have much of an economy with the financial system sleeping in the basement. So, here's what the government has to make sure the financial system does, according to relationship site Ehow:

Be completely honest about its misdeeds. All of them.

Answer every question. Patiently. With empathy.

Stop behaving badly.

Be transparent.

Don't think it can dictate when all should be forgiven.

Don't cheat again.

Michael Fitzgerald

Michael Fitzgerald writes about innovation and other big ideas in business for publications like the New York Times, The Economist, Fast Company, Inc. and CIO. He’s worked as a writer or editor at Red Herring, ZDNet, TechTV and Computerworld, and has received numerous awards as a writer and editor. Most recently, his piece on the hacker collective the l0pht won the 2008 award for best trade piece from the American Society of Journalists and Authors. He was also a 2007 Templeton-Cambridge Journalism Fellow in Science and Religion.

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