[xorcist]

Society is built on trust, and if you don't have trust in the energy company, or the justice system, or even your neighbours, then that sets a limit to how high functioning the society can become.

Aspects of these issues can be observed in pretty much every country, no matter how rich or developed. For instance, it is quite clear that because people in the US has no trust for social insurance systems, that puts a cap on how efficient their workforce can get. That doesn't matter economically as long as there is a lot of unskilled labour, but it leaves no possibility for the whole workforce to get skilled and well educated. That could matter at some point in the future.