Liberia—or Monrovia, at least—has bathtubs. They're not in use, of course – there is no running water. They remind us that at one time, this country was prosperous enough from municipal water supply and had porcelain tubs imported from overseas.Mansions are filled with families occupying only part of the house, time and neglect making upkeep of the whole structure impossible, occupancy of the entire building dangerous.Sometimes people talk about television as creating images of 'the good life' in the developing world, creating a standard that can't be reached. No need for television here. The realities of the past and - one hopes - the possibilities of the future are all around. Everywhere, signs of a previous wealth contrast with current squalor.What does this mean for expectations? And if disappointment is the gap between expectations and reality, what are the ramifications here?Monrovia is an atomized city - a city of walled compounds, of separation. It's a city of generators, because there's no power grid. It's a place where follow-up and micro-management are the norm, because people don't trust others to work diligently.To effectively have agricultural markets work, there has to be trust. To maximize farm yields, there has to be trust. To make small businesses work, there has to be trust.I was talking to a friend who drives a cab. He's one of the most loved cabbies for expats in the city, because he's always on time, If he doesn't have time to pick you up - if he's too busy - he tells you. If he says he's 10 minutes away, he'll be there in 10 minutes, not 30. I asked him why he didn't buy another cab - he makes pretty good money - and hire a 2nd driver, someone he trusted. He laughed. "Who? Who can I hire? Someone will drive my car to Guinea and sell it." I suggested maybe he had a relative, a cousin or brother who could be trusted. He laughed again. "Even worse! He won't work at all. He'll just take my money." How do you build trust? Is trust a by-product of shared development, or an input? If the latter, what role can government play, not in building infrastructure that allows for the exchange of physical capital (e.g . roads), but rather social capital? Ultimately, faith is what makes things work - faith in the government to be broadly fair, faith in others not to steal, faith that this year will be better than last and next year better still. Faith that the economic pie will expand - for if the pie is stagnant or contracting, the smartest move is to ignore the rules and try to take as much of today's pie as you can.What's more, not maximizing today's pie, playing for the future, is only the prudent move if you think enough others will do likewise - otherwise you're just Milton Waddams in Office Space, passing all the pieces of cake and being left empty-handed.The bathtub is a visible sign of what once was. The question is how Siafa, or Maureene, or Vabah respond to the bathtub. Does it need to be filled today? Or is it enough that the roof isn't falling in? Do we pay attention only to the 'function' of development - the rate of physical progress - or can people focus on the 1st and 2nd derivatives of the function, the velocity (the speed of development) and acceleration (the speed at which the speed of development is changing)? What role can government play in building trust, in managing expectations, in shifting focus?
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