Introduction

Abstract

Why does trust collapse during crises and when does it become, instead, a driving force of social and economic change? How may trust become a chief motive of growth recovery by building value?

By applying the sociological components of trust to the social thought of John Maynard Keynes, Padua tackles topics as rationality and irrationality, individualism, values, government, growth and development, coordinating them with the current global issues of equality and redistribution, techno-finance and social capital. While trust impacts on the relationship between risk, uncertainty and security, the original concept ‘Nominal Economy’ explains the rise of the new strong powers. Under a Keynesian perspective, only focused interventions of ‘Economy of Trust’ may positively build value as social capital, channelling trust towards institutional bodies responsible for institutional trustworthiness.