Location: New York
Author: Tracey McNerney
Date: Tuesday, September 2, 2008
According to a Financial Times/Harris Poll conducted online by Harris Interactive®, most people in France, Germany, Great Britain, Spain, and the United States believe their economies are getting worse.
Within the past year:
Household Economic Status: Almost three-quarters (72%) of British adults feel their household’s economic well-being has become worse, compared to just over half of Germans and Americans (56% each);
Lifestyles: At least seven in ten adults in each country (from 84% in Italy and 83% in the U.S. to 70% each in Spain and Germany) say they have changed their lifestyles and curbed their spending as a result of inflation and tighter credit conditions;
Consumer Spending: Most people are making fewer trips to restaurants, cinemas and pubs (between 81% and 67%); they are cutting back on expensive food and drink purchases (between 51% and 69%); and they are delaying the purchase of clothes and other consumer goods (between 59% and 68%). Substantial minorities – many millions of people – have delayed buying homes and cars; and,
Country Economics: At least four in five Americans (90%), Britons (89%), Italians (88%), French adults (87%) and Spaniards (81%) say the economies in their respective countries have grown worse. Germans are a little less sour on their economy, as just over half (58%) say it is worse while one-quarter (26%) believe it has remained about the same.
It seems that most people do not believe that economies are hurting because of international trends, and they blame the government.
Majorities in all countries who say their respective economies are worse indicated that their governments have a lot or complete responsibility for the recent economic downturn and its consequences;
Among those who say the economy is worse, one-quarter of French (25%) and at least one-third in the each of other five countries (between 32% and 37%) all agree that their country’s government is doing a terrible job in handling the economic turndown;
Relative majorities in France (45%) and Germany (48%) who say the economy has grown worse, and a majority of adults in Italy (55%) and Spain (56%) who feel the same, feel that the European Central Bank has not responded appropriately to the challenges of the economic turndown.
Forty-three percent of Americans who believe the US economy is worse say the Federal Reserve has not responded appropriately, while 37 percent of Britons who say their economy is worse say the Bank of England has not responded appropriately.
So What?
Majorities in all six countries say that their household’s economic well-being has declined, while even larger numbers believe their economies are doing poorly. People are changing their lifestyles, reflecting that the economy affects what people do in their personal lives, and are holding governments responsible for the economic challenges they face.
Ultimately, the strongly negative attitudes of adults toward their governments’ handling of their economies may have important political consequences. The U.S. presidential election is just weeks away, and with 30 percent of Americans saying that the state of the economy has changed the way they will vote, these voters have the ability to really make a difference in who resides in the White House. In the UK, where a general election is predicted for next year, many Britons (44%) say the economy will not change their vote, but almost one-quarter (23%) say it will. Majorities of adults in Italy (56%), Spain (53%) and France (52%) and 39 percent of Germans all also say the economy will not change their vote, but substantial minorities say the opposite.
One of the usual indicators of party switching in an election is the economy – in good economic times, voters like the status quo. However, when things are bad, they usually want to make a change. So these findings are bad news for incumbents in all six countries.
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