A new pattern in opinions about bureaucrats, business and charity

UNTIL recently, opinions about the public and private sectors tended to move in mirror image. Some societies mistrusted the state but expected a lot from private firms. In others the state was revered and the reputation of firms was in doubt. And in countries like China where respect for the state ran deep, people were also sceptical of private efforts to do good.

Over the past year, patterns have shifted. The latest in a series of annual polls of the “informed public”—successful, educated people who follow the news—in 22 countries shows that in most, trust in government and the private sector is moving in step, either up or down. In Russia confidence on both fronts is down. In Germany the latest year showed a modest rise (from 35% to 41%) in trust in government and an equal climb (from 33% to 39%) in the number who had high hopes of business. Britain was an outlier. There, trust in the state fell (from 41% to 35%), whereas trust in the private sector inched up, from 45% to 47%. …