Presentation by Diane Coyle at the OECD Workshop on “Joint Learning for an OECD Trust Strategy” on 14 October 2013. Ms. Coyle discusses how trust effects the economy and the challenges faced.

1. Why is trust in government
important today?
Diane Coyle
diane@enlightenmenteconomics.com
@diane1859

2. “It’s the economy, stupid”
• Intangibles – tacit knowledge and
information asymmetries
• Globalization – extended supply chains,
migration and heterogeneity of workforce
• The structural reform trap – hard to
achieve with low growth, low growth
makes it vital; need a credible promise of
‘jam tomorrow’
• The paradox of trust – both low and high

3. Governance
• Organizational implications of ICT-driven
structural change
• From command-and-control to networks
• Productivity gains only where greater
access to information can be used
• ‘Information’ vs ‘communication’
• Private sector restructuring vs public
sector sclerosis

4. Other challenges
• Limits to knowledge – uncertainty
• Limits to understanding - explaining
complexity and long-term trade-offs
• Limits to action – ‘levers’ don’t work in a
non-linear world
• Limits to consent – escaping the Catch 22
of low trust in government

5. Reason and emotion