Trust is down, worldwide. In India, Iran, Indonesia and Nigeria, less than 15% say that ‘most people can be trusted’. What’s going on? I suggest several likely mechanisms: 1) Generalised distrust is correlated with strong family bonds 2) Poorer countries have rapidly urbanised at a lower level of income 3) Rule of law varies worldwide 4) Political contestation and growing polarisation 5) Online connectivity has boomed, and is increasingly negative My Substack has graphs, data and further resources: https://www.ggd.world/p/whats-driving-the-global-decline