![Secrets Of The World's Most Trusting Country](https://cdn.magzter.com/1588175420/1717119776/articles/My00lh1Sa1717141091128/Denmark.jpg)
Over the years, Denmark has emerged as the good faith capital of the world. Nearly 74% of Danes believe "most people can be trusted" - more than any other nationality. On wider metrics, such as social trust (trusting a stranger) and civic trust (trusting authority), Denmark also scores highest in the world, with the other Nordic countries close behind.
The political scientist Gert Tinggaard Svendsen argues that trust accounts for 25% of Denmark's otherwise inexplicable wealth. By his reckoning, a quarter of that wealth comes from physical capital (means of production and infrastructure), half comes from human capital (the population's level of education and innovation), and the unexplained final quarter is trust: they don't sue one another, they don't waste money on burglar alarms, businesses often make binding verbal agreements without sweating the contract. People who hold power in Danish institutions - the government, police, judiciary, health services - are trusted to be acting in society's best interests, and there is very little corruption.
Even the Danish official website calls it "the land of trust", using unattended cloakrooms at the opera as an example. A better one I saw is the Red Cross charity shop in Copenhagen, with a QR code on the door. If the shop's closed, you download the app, let yourself in, choose what you want and leave the money on the counter.
The cliche that's gone global is that Danes are so trusting, they leave their babies sleeping in prams outside cafes and restaurants. "Are you guys for real?" I ask Alma, 21, who's working in a cafe in Copenhagen. "There are seriously babies out there, asleep?" She gets asked this by foreigners a lot. "Sure, why not? If a baby's crying outside, people will pop their heads in and say, 'Is this anyone's baby?"
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 31, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 31, 2024-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
![Dangerous Alliance Putin And Kim Are The Odd Couple With A Dual Mission](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/uEKyeu5451719558107995/crp_DANGEROUS-ALLIANCE-PUTIN-AND-KIM-ARE-THE-ODD-COUPLE-WITH-A-DUAL-MISSION.jpg)
Dangerous Alliance Putin And Kim Are The Odd Couple With A Dual Mission
They make an odd couple. One is smiley-faced and chubby. The other is thin-lipped and scowls a lot.
![Evangelicals On Crusade To Return Trump To Presidency](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/G-YRLqrPf1719559082295/crp_EVANGELICALS-ON-CRUSADE-TO-RETURN-TRUMP-TO-PRESIDENCY.jpg)
Evangelicals On Crusade To Return Trump To Presidency
God's army is on the march. And many of its foot soldiers are wearing Make America Great Again regalia, sensing that their unlikely standard-bearer, former US president Donald Trump, is once again close to the promised land.
![Friends Reunited What Can Russia And North Korea Do For Each Other?](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/aQs916T6m1719557958763/crp_FRIENDS-REUNITED-WHAT-CAN-RUSSIA-AND-NORTH-KOREA-DO-FOR-EACH-OTHER.jpg)
Friends Reunited What Can Russia And North Korea Do For Each Other?
China accounts for more than 90% of North Korea's trade and has been its most dependable aid donor and diplomatic ally.
![Tensions Rise On Border As War Looms](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/bLdjbA-DK1719558717144/crp_TENSIONS-RISE-ON-BORDER-AS-WAR-LOOMS.jpg)
Tensions Rise On Border As War Looms
Doctors prepare for casualties, people flee their homes and apprehension hangs in the air as threat grows of conflict with Hezbollah
![The Prosecution Of Roy Is A Stark Warning From Modi To His Critics Salil Tripathi](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/Vqvuuonye1719559976219/crp_THE-PROSECUTION-OF-ROY-IS-A-STARK-WARNING-FROM-MODI-TO-HIS-CRITICS-SALIL-TRIPATHI.jpg)
The Prosecution Of Roy Is A Stark Warning From Modi To His Critics Salil Tripathi
This month, the highest ranking bureaucrat of the state of Delhi, Vinai Kumar Saxena, permitted the Delhi police to prosecute Arundhati Roy (pictured), and Sheikh Showkat Hussain for remarks they made at a public event 14 years ago.
![Heads up Road deaths prompt a rethink over bike helmets](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/oKI6I-6zF1719560816312/HEADS-UP-ROAD-DEATHS-PROMPT-A-RETHINK-OVER-BIKE-HELMETS.jpg)
Heads up Road deaths prompt a rethink over bike helmets
When 42-year-old Myrthe Boss gets on her bike to go shopping in the Dutch town of Ede, she pops on a helmet.
![How Easter Island is swamped by deluge of plastic](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/_ckmlXWmi1719560645633/HOW-EASTER-ISLAND-IS-SWAMPED-BY-DELUGE-OF-PLASTIC.jpg)
How Easter Island is swamped by deluge of plastic
Ocean currents are dumping tides of multinational rubbish on to the shores of one of the world's most remote habitats
![Bold ideas for a well-dressed salad - and without the need for oil](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/Q2TpyS_UD1719560434641/BOLD-IDEAS-FOR-A-WELLDRESSED-SALAD-AND-WITHOUT-THE-NEED-FOR-OIL.jpg)
Bold ideas for a well-dressed salad - and without the need for oil
It's hard to deny the transformative power of a good salad dressing, but you don't need much oil, if any. Honey, for example, will give \"a natural stickiness that helps adhesion to your salad, while the sweetness balances the acidity of vinegar\", says Tony Rodd, head chef at Pomus in Margate
![The German theatre that puts climate centre stage](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/APT2A8FD21719560346362/THE-GERMAN-THEATRE-THAT-PUTS-CLIMATE-CENTRE-STAGE.jpg)
The German theatre that puts climate centre stage
As part of a wider project to reduce its carbon footprint, a Potsdam theatre is reusing props, recycling costumes and doubling up tickets as transport passes
![Out of the shadows](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/21668/1747903/eOYIk7XPZ1719560133674/OUT-OF-THE-SHADOWS.jpg)
Out of the shadows
Anthony McCall made his name with 'light sculptures' that people could enter. But a show in Sweden led to 20 years in the wilderness