American optimism strong inspite of economic crisis: Survey

Washington, Oct. 16 : The Americans are extremely concerned about the economic crisis in the country, but retain their optimism about a turnaround-taking place sooner than later.

The Washington Times quoted Andrew Kohut, a researcher, as saying: "There is no evidence that fundamental American optimism has eroded in the face of the financial crisis. Even after a week of some of the largest stock market declines since the Great Depression, 64 percent of the public say that ''as Americans, we can always find ways to solve our problems and get what we want.”

Only 11 percent believe that the situation is not right or going in a positive direction.

"There is little indication that the nation''s financial crisis has triggered public panic or despair," the survey said.

"Most Americans express confidence that the government still possesses the power to fix the economy ... There has been no decline in people''s perceptions of their own financial situations."

Indeed, 56 percent of the respondents said the federal government had the power to fix the economy, though that figure dropped 11 points since July.

In addition, 41 percent rate their financial situation as excellent or good, virtually unchanged in the past three months. Fifty-nine percent said they expect their finances to improve over the next year, up from 51 percent in the same time period.

Americans are taking action. Six out of 10 have cut back on vacation plans, 55 percent eat out less often and 48 percent are "changing" the way they save. Another four out of 10 have delayed big purchases, a third have delayed buying a new car. The outlook is sober, however, with 64 percent agreeing that "jobs were hard to find."

The respondents blame the sins of bloated consumer culture for the crisis, with 72 percent citing risky bank loans as the cause and 79 percent citing "people taking on too much debt."

There was a pronounced partisan difference here: 91 percent of Republicans blamed the debtors, compared with 74 percent of Democrats.

The survey of 1,485 adults was conducted Oct. 9-12 and has a margin of error of three percentage points. (ANI)