The Discover(R) Small Business Watch (SM) continued to decline for the third straight month, dropping below 70.0 for the first time since the Watch was established in August 2006. The index fell 3.9 points in November to 67.5.
A plurality of investors - for the first time ever - say they would rather put new investment money in a bank savings account than in the stock market or in real estate. This marks a dramatic change over the past year in response to worsening conditions on Wall Street and other troubling economic factors.
Nearly half of U.S. voters (48%) say it is better for the economy to let companies like General Motors fail rather than providing government subsidies to keep them in business.
Forty-four percent (44%) of Americans agree with President Bush’s declaration last week that "free-market capitalism is far more than an economic theory. It is the engine of social mobility - the highway to the American Dream."
Forty-six percent (46%) of Americans say most reporters and media outlets try to make the economy seem worse than it really is, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Just 26% of U.S. adults are at least somewhat confident that U.S. policymakers know what they are doing when it comes to addressing the nation’s current economic problems, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.
Sizable pluralities of Americans are opposed to taxpayer-backed bailouts of the Big Three automakers, with 73% now worried the U.S. government will run out of money with all the demands being made on the federal treasury in the current economic crisis.
Despite Wall Street’s highly publicized problems, a majority of U.S. voters (54%) still think it is a good idea for most Americans to invest in stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
A majority of U.S. voters (52%) say the federal government needs to do more to deal with the current economic crisis, and 63% think the best stimulus would be more tax cuts. Just 20% think new government spending is what is needed, while 17% aren’t sure which is better.
The Rasmussen Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market, fell sixteen points in October to 72.1. That’s the biggest single month drop and the lowest level of confidence ever recorded in the five-year history of the Index.
Eighty-seven percent (87%) of U.S. voters say elections are important to the overall health of the stock market, but voters are evenly divided on the impact of either John McCain or Barack Obama winning on Tuesday.
Oil prices are plummeting, and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), including Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, doesn’t like it. For Americans, it means the lowest prices they’ve paid at the gas pump in months.
Nearly half (47%) of U.S. voters say Congress has more control over the direction of the economy than the president and the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
The Discover (R) Small Business Watch (SM) dropped for the second straight month as news of a congressional rescue plan failed to lift the spirits or expectations of the nation's 22 million small business owners.
Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say more tax cuts will better stimulate the economy than new government spending, even as Congress considers a second stimulus plan that could cost as much as $300 billion.
The mounting economic crisis is eroding Americans' optimism in their financial security. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index(SM) slid 1.1 points to 68.8 in October, fueled by dramatic declines among men, pre-retirees and high income individuals.
Forty-one percent (41%) of Americans think the federal government should provide tax incentives for anyone who buys a car from a U.S. auto company, as two of the Big Three automakers talk merger to survive in the current economic climate.
Sixty-two percent (62%) of Americans expect stock market values to be higher in five years than they are today, even after a month of highly-publicized troubles on Wall Street.
A plurality of voters (47%) say Barack Obama’s plan to raise taxes on those who earn over $250,000 a year is good for the troubled U.S. economy, even though 51% still believe that lower taxes are the best way to spur economic growth.
A majority of voters (52%) favor John McCain’s plan for the federal government to buy up distressed mortgages and refinance them so homeowners can stay in their homes, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Thirty-five percent (35%) oppose the plan.
