Who do you trust? Most of us, if pressed to answer that odd yet supremely important question, would compose rather short lists. Our family members, maybe. A few close friends. In reality, though, we trust far more people than that. Total strangers, for example: “This taxi driver is competent behind the wheel and will take me where I want to go.” We trust faceless businesses: “This item I bought online will arrive in the mail as promised.” Though we often claim we don’t, we often trust the government — whose regulators, courts and other instruments of authority are, after all, the ultimate guarantors of our safe taxi rides and properly fulfilled online purchases.