Economic confidence among small business owners remained steady in February, as the monthly Discover(R) Small Business Watch(SM) index dipped slightly from 91.0 in January to 90.2. Although a few more small business owners said the overall economy is getting better, a rise in cash flow issues kept confidence flat.
Americans are divided about whether the unemployment rate is going to head up or down over the coming year.
Americans overwhelmingly believe the current political unrest in the Arab world will make them pay a lot more at the pump.
Only nine percent (9%) of American Adults think the United States has the best tax system in the world, down from 12% last year.
Regardless of any changes made to the tax code, many Americans continue to question the fairness of what they have to pay.
Voters may question how President Obama is handling the economy and think his new budget doesn't cut deeply enough, but most still blame his predecessor for the problems he's trying to deal with.?
"My partner and I bought a small business five years ago from the person who originally started it. We assumed his existing lease for a terrific retail space, and personally guaranteed the lease. As we are both getting ready to retire, we decided to sell the business. We found a great buyer, who is willing to pay us an above-market price because of the business location.
The downward trend of early tax filers continues, with only 29% of Americans saying that they have already filed their income taxes.
Does confidence in the direction of personal finances drive sentiment on economic growth, or is it the other way around?
Voters clearly don’t have much confidence in their elected leaders to make the spending cuts necessary to reduce the nation’s historic-level budget deficit.
The documents the White House includes with President Obama's $3.7 trillion proposed budget for 2012 project that government spending will top $4 trillion in the next two to three years, but most voters aren't aware of that increase amidst all the talk of spending cuts.
Most voters don’t think President Obama’s proposed $3.7 trillion federal budget includes enough spending cuts, and despite House Republican plans to cut substantially more, a plurality of voters don’t think the GOP goes far enough either.
A sizable number of Americans remain less likely to buy a General Motors car because of the company’s government bailout. One-in-four says anti-buyout sentiment has kept them or someone they know from buying a GM vehicle.
Just over half of Americans think General Motors and Chrysler may repay their taxpayer bailouts, but that doesn’t change the negative view of future bailouts.
Americans are beginning 2011 with renewed confidence as financial security sentiments reached their highest level since April 2010. The COUNTRY Financial Security Index(R) rose 0.8 points to 64.9 in February. This marks the first time Americans have started the year with improved sentiments since the COUNTRY Index began in 2007.
Most voters continue to believe that government bailouts were a bad idea, and a plurality still fears the government will do too much to help the economy.
As frequent readers of this column know, I am not the biggest fan of e-mail.
Half of all Americans own stocks, bonds or mutual funds, but most are also unaware of that fact.
Homeowners continue to hold little hope for the value of their house in the short-term and show no new confidence in long-term recovery.
Economists still argue about what caused the Great Depression of the 1930s and what got the nation out of it.
