Throughout history, trust has had an economic as much as an ethical purpose. Why has the United States generated so much economic opportunity and wealth? Economist Douglass North, who was co-recipient of a Nobel Prize, examined this very question. He found that technical innovations alone are not enough to drive an economy to success. Legal tools like courts that will fairly enforce contracts are necessary—how else to ensure some random warlord doesn’t come along and take away your property? What separates modern humans from the caveman is trust. The American founding fathers knew this. They
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