70% Think Banks Should Loan Only To Those Best Able To Repay

While many policy makers worry that credit is too tight, most Americans think instead that people are borrowing more than they can afford.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 73% of Adults feel that Americans borrowing too much money is a bigger problem for the economy that that a lack of available credit. Just 17% now see a lack of available credit as the bigger economic problem. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Sixty-six percent (66%) see people getting loans they can’t afford to pay back as a bigger problem than some people not being able to get the loans and credit they need. Only 22% think people not getting loans and credit they need is a bigger problem. These views haven’t changed in over two years.

Given the other findings, it’s no surprise that just 19% of Americans believe banks should be encouraged in the current economic environment to lend money more freely. Seventy percent (70%) say banks should be encouraged instead to lend money only to those best able to repay the loans. Again, these views remain essentially unchanged since April two years ago.

Most Americans think their fellow countrymen need to cut back on their credit card usage and other borrowing but don’t feel they personally have a borrowing problem.

Overall confidence in housing values has plummeted, with the number who say their home is worth more than what they owe on their mortgage lower than ever.

The current figures have not changed significantly since April 2009.

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The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on July 1-2, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.