The latest Trust Barometer put out by global public relations giant Edelman is a sobering read for business and government.

Tracking views of 2000 opinion leaders around the world, it found trust in institutions like business and government is falling. Business had a trust rate of only 21 per cent in france, 33 per cent in Germany and just 49 per cent in the US. Governments didn't do much better, pulling in a 32 per cent score in France and 38 per cent in the US.

In disturbing news for US companies, the survey found that major American brands like Coca-Cola and McDonalds were facing a big "trust discount" in Europe. In other words, these brands were regarded as less trustworthy over there.

Compare that with the story for non-Government organisations. They were the most trusted in every market, except Japan and Brazil. And when the survey asked people to nominate a global company they really trusted, many named NGOs like Red Cross and Greenpeace.

If the study's right, business has a lot of work ahead.