45% Say Economy Will Be Stronger in a Year, 36% Say Weaker
Americans are slightly more confident that the economy will be better one year from today, while hopes for its long-term recovery hold steady.
Americans are slightly more confident that the economy will be better one year from today, while hopes for its long-term recovery hold steady.
Following news reports that Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs received a liver transplant this spring, 31% of American adults say publicly held companies should reveal when top managers are ill.
Forty-six percent (46%) of Americans say the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board already has too much power over the economy, even as the Obama administration proposes expanding the Fed’s regulatory controls.
Forty-seven percent (47%) of Americans oppose more government regulation of the U.S. financial system, while 33% disagree and say more regulation is a good idea, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Forty-eight percent (48%) of U.S. voters say it is too easy to sue a doctor for medical malpractice in the United States today.
Wal-Mart’s still number one, and Costco has a way to go to catch up.
With two of the nation’s Big Three automakers in bankruptcy and the economy still a mess, Americans continue to view corporate chief executive officers as the lowest of the low.
President Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner both said this week that they see optimistic signs in the U.S. economy, but the short-term and long-term perspectives of most Americans remain unchanged over the past month.
Eighty-three percent (83%) of Americans say it’s likely there will still be a need for the U.S. Postal Service in 10 years, even as increasing numbers pay their bills and send personal letters via the Internet. Fifty-one percent (51%) say it is Very Likely there will be such a need.
Seventy-four percent (74%) of Americans say it is at least somewhat likely that the price of a first class postage stamp will be $1 or more within the next 10 years. Forty-six percent (46%) say it’s Very Likely.
Three-out-of-four American voters (75%) say that businesses do a better job than government agencies when it comes to handling customer service issues. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that only 11% take the opposite view and believe that government bodies do a better job.
Just 35% of American voters believe that a free market economy is the same as a capitalist economy. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 38% disagree and 27% are not sure.
Twenty-one percent (21%) of American adults say that the U.S. economy is partially socialist and another five percent (5%) say generally speaking it’s already a socialist economy.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of U.S. voters say that they prefer a free market economy over a government-managed economy. That’s up seven points since December.
Earlier this week, Gallup released new data showing that most Americans still view big government as a more serious threat to the nation than big business or big labor. The results weren’t terribly surprising since Gallup has asked the question periodically since 1965 and government has always been seen as the biggest threat.
Americans have a little more confidence in the U.S. banking system than they did two months ago.
Over the past few months, short-term expectations for the economy have improved dramatically, but longer-term expectations have moved in the opposite direction.
Eighty-five percent (85%) of Americans say they are concerned about the possibility of inflation in the current economy, with 55% Very Concerned, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Many Americans, it appears, expect to keep their financial house in order despite the troubled U.S. economy.