Friend: It's ok to be skeptical but one has to find some sources they believe share unbiased information. And if one has a source of many such sources they they can cross reference info and perhaps gain more confidence. For me, this Stanford study seems legit. It's science and frankly not super complicated science.

Perhaps you would trust the study if it came from UCI or Cal State Fullerton. Either way, the science doesn't change

Me: I think our institutions have been corrupted slowly over the decades and only escalted & accelerated in past 40years. From media, to large companies, to regulatory agencies, to healthcare, to government. Ucis, UCs and cal states were equal victims to this problem. I think the establishment of the central bank in the country famous for abolishing & rejecting it several times, America, in 1913, layed the foundation for downfall. 1933 executive order 6102 confiscated from honest actors. Everything in 1971 with creation of fiat, accelerated all after that. Fiat money corrupted others things