Americans End The Year Unhappy

Americans are remarkably unhappy about their situations and the direction the country is going as the holiday season begins and they look toward the end of the year.

“Seventeen percent of Americans say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time, the low point in a year when satisfaction levels generally have been in the 20% range,” a new Gallup poll shows. The figure is actually as low as it was in the early 1980s when unemployment was over 10% for a period of over a year.

The reasons for the dissatisfaction are the same as they have been for some time. Thirty percent cite the economy in general. Twenty-four percent list jobs and unemployment as their major concern. The budget deficit hardly warrants a mention, down at 10% of what respondents view as the most important issue.

The poll shows that if the economy has begun to get better, that few Americans recognize the improvement. The most recent government jobs report may reinforce worries. People who are not out of work certainly have a friend or relative who is.

The continued drop in the housing market probably undermines confidence as well. Nearly 11 million home mortgages are underwater and most data shows that 3 million home loans will go into foreclosure this year.

Many Americans do not believe that the huge$787 billion Obama stimulus package worked to improve the economy much. It is too early to tell whether Americans will look at new tax cuts as a way to restart GDP growth.

The most notable part of the research may be that Americans are not, for the most part, concerned about the deficit. The problems it has begun to create are in the news almost every day. This bombardment of information and concern about how much the government spends does not appear to have had much of an effect. The reason for that is simple. Americans are more concerned about their economic status now. The future is the future, and the problems of the future can be faced when they come.

An unhappy population is not one that is optimistic about the year ahead. Consumer spending activity is likely to remain very modest next year, no matter how much money the federal government puts into people’s pockets.

Douglas A. McIntyre