Fifty percent of Americans rate their personal financial situation as either “excellent” or “good,” slightly higher than the 46% recorded last year and the highest level recorded since before the Great Recession. CONT. Justin McCarthy, Gallup Read more »
U.S. Decline Is Campaign Hype, Not Reality
As in any U.S. national election without an incumbent president, the candidates are painting a not very pretty picture: The country is “going to hell,” bluntly asserts the Republican front-runner Donald Trump. … Certainly, problems abound. The recovery from the 2008-09 recession has been uneven and is characterized by widening […] Read more »
The most under-appreciated fact of the election: Americans feel good about the economy
In an election season about voter anger, one important thing is underappreciated: voter optimism. And in particular, optimism about the economy. “Wait, what?” you may be thinking. Isn’t the election defined by the country’s “economic blues“? Isn’t the election being shaped by “anger over a ‘failed economy’“? This is not […] Read more »
Healthcare Costs Top U.S. Families’ Financial Concerns
Fifteen percent of Americans cite healthcare costs as the most important financial problem facing their family. In addition to healthcare costs, Americans also point to low wages, debt, college expenses and housing costs as pressing financial concerns for their family. CONT. Zac Auter, Gallup Read more »
The Secret Shame of Middle-Class Americans
Since 2013, the federal reserve board has conducted a survey to “monitor the financial and economic status of American consumers.” Most of the data in the latest survey, frankly, are less than earth-shattering …. But the answer to one question was astonishing. The Fed asked respondents how they would pay for […] Read more »
Consumer confidence: Income Growth Key to Expanding Consumer Sales
Despite small monthly variations, the overall level of consumer confidence has remained largely unchanged over the past three quarters, according to the University of Michigan (U-M) Surveys of Consumers. This stability has resulted from increased optimism about personal finances being offset by expectations of slower economic growth, according to U-M […] Read more »