tried and true institutions
I found this a comfort as I contemplated what would rise up out of the rubble of the ruined U.S. economy, and how we would retain the essence of what is best about our tried and true institutions, while building up new structures and models that are completely different than anything we have ever experienced before.

what does "retain the essence of what is best about our tried and true institutions, while building up new structures and models that are completely different than anything we have ever experienced before" mean?

Question

tried and true institutions
I found this a comfort as I contemplated what would rise up out of the rubble of the ruined U.S. economy, and how we would retain the essence of what is best about our tried and true institutions, while building up new structures and models that are completely different than anything we have ever experienced before.

what does "retain the essence of what is best about our tried and true institutions, while building up new structures and models that are completely different than anything we have ever experienced before" mean?

Answer

'tried and true' is an idiom that means that something has been used before, and found to work well. Institutions are social and financial institutions - government, financial organisations such as banks and stock markets, possibly hospitals and health systems. 
So the phrase means something like: keeping the good parts of our old systems, while building new ones that are different to before.

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