27% Favor a Government-Managed Economy
More than one-out-of-four Americans (27%) think the government should manage the U.S. economy, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Nearly as many (24%) say it's better for the government to stay out of economic decisions altogether.
A plurality (43%) of Adults, however, think the appropriate role for the government is to provide programs like unemployment insurance to help people through difficult times. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
But while Congress wrangles over whether to continue funding unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks, many Americans express concern that providing benefits for that long a period may do more harm than good.
Most voters, in fact, still worry that the federal government will do too much in trying to turn the economy around.
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The survey of 1,000 Adults nationwide was conducted on November 30-December 1, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
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