NU Online News Service, OCT. 13, 1:50 p.m. EDT
Two-thirds of Americans are strongly in favor of government measures to implement lasting regulation of the financial services industry, according to a new public opinion poll.
The survey by the FD consulting firm sponsored by Allstate Corporation and National Journal also found that 78 percent support increases in disclosure requirements on the risks and benefits of financial products.
Taken from Sept. 24 to Sept. 28, the "Heartland Monitor" poll sampled 1,200 American adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8 percent, the poll sponsors said.
The survey found 57 percent of respondents believe that limiting the types of financial products now offered would be effective in helping the economy grow and preventing future downturns.
Thomas J. Wilson, Allstate chairman, president and chief executive officer, said the poll found that "Americans from all walks of life have changed their economic expectations and express less confidence in a wide range of public and private institutions. These results emphasize the need for the public and private sector to work together to rebuild trust and ensure middle-class Americans have the tools they need to create a more secure future."
Sixty-two percent of those polled said they believe the U.S. economy will experience more dramatic boom-and-bust cycles than in the past, and 57 percent said they expect the standard of living for people like them to grow more slowly than in recent decades.
Almost two-thirds of those surveyed said they believe the way the economy looks and works will be fundamentally different from what it was before the recession. Whether this change is cause for optimism or pessimism has the American public evenly split.
Eighty-five percent of those surveyed Americans said the recession has had at least some impact on their personal financial situations, and 80 percent indicated they expect to reduce spending in order to make ends meet or provide for greater financial security going forward.
Some 58 percent said they have less confidence in major corporations; 56 percent have less confidence in national banks; 61 percent in investment banks; and 53 percent have less confidence in officials in Washington.
Only 31 percent of those surveyed said they trusted elected officials in Washington to improve economic security.
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