"distrust of traditional lending institutions such as commercial banks led some borrowers to seek out brokers from their own communities whom they felt they could trust. But these brokers were operating under high-powered incentives to inflate rates and fees and guide borrowers towards subprime products even when they were eligible for cheaper alternatives. The trust that was placed in the brokers allowed them greater flexibility to respond to these incentives and left borrowers worse off than the would have been if they had been more suspicious or better aware of the incentive structures in place.
"Viewed in this manner, the subprime saga has some broader implications. From the point of view of a company operating in multiple local markets with a diverse customer base, the strategy of giving local employees or contractors the discretion to adjust prices can be very profitable. This is especially so if these employees appear trustworthy to their customers, but are not in fact deserving of such trust. As Groucho Marx is reputed to have said: 'The secret of life is honesty and fair-dealing. If you can fake that you've got it made.' For products involving frequent repeat purchases by the same customer, reputation effects and competition can limit the degree of price discrimination. But the purchase of a home is an infrequent transaction for most people, and the complexity of the loan product precludes easy comparison with alternatives on offer. Trust then becomes a key determinant of pricing and transaction volume, especially when strong and hidden incentives for the betrayal of trust are in place.
"Betrayal also leads to the erosion of trust over time. It could be argued that trust is one of our most valuable public goods, substantially lowering the costs of transacting. In the complete absence of trust, the resources that would need to be devoted to monitoring would be prohibitive and many organizations and markets would simply not exist. Trust also comes naturally to most of us, based on simple cues such as those revealed in Reid's interviews. High-powered incentives to secure and then betray such trust are therefore costly not just to the immediate victim, but also to the community at large. This may be one of the less visible consequences of the subprime crisis."

Interesting as a case study in economic sociology, though none of the participants seem to be equipped to recognize this.
(Predictably, the comments section is full of hurt bitcoin boosters.)

"Most work for most people in the developed world is about coordinating their actions with those of others – colleagues, partners, underlings, bosses, customers, distributors, suppliers, publicists, regulators .... Information collection and transfer, while often important and sometimes essential to the co-ordination of actions, is not usually itself the main game." Consequently, we have not an "Information Society" but a "Joint-Action Society, although this does not quite capture all that is intended." Resonates oddly with the recent Cuff, Permuter and Cover paper on "coordination capacity".

"Trust in science at all-time high"