The American People Are Mad As Hell and Can't Take It Anymore

Americans are so mad about the economy that they can’t think straight, if two recent Bloomberg News of  polls of 1,000 people are any indication.

In one survey, more than half of respondents said they were worse off now than they were two years ago before President Obama took office.  Three quarters say that the country is headed in the wrong direction.  Another Bloomberg National Poll found that most Americans believe the “Federal Reserve should either be brought under tighter political control or abolished outright,” the news service says.

Neither of these results are particularly surprising.  Many Americans are starting to look back on the Bush Administration fondly.  Nevermind the  wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or the hated  Wall Street bailouts,  at least Americans can say they had jobs and could pay their bills.  Now, unemployment is at 9.8% and foreclosures are expected to hit a record this year.   How much of this is Obama’s fault is open to debate.  Moreover, Obama still has time to rebound ahead of the 2012 election.

“Obama’s numbers in the poll, given the context of an economy that is struggling to recover from the longest recession since the Great Depression and the experience of past presidents, aren’t so bad,”  Bloomberg notes. “As (Ronald) Reagan approached the end of his second year in office, his numbers were more negative than Obama’s in this survey.”

The results on the Fed should be taken with a grain of salt.  For one thing, most Americans probably have no idea what the Central Bank does.  Many couldn’t pick Chairman Ben Bernanke out of a line-up.  About all most know about the Fed is what they have heard from Tea Party followers and others such as Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders who argue that the secretive organization is up to no good.  People fear the Fed because they don’t understand it.

“The Fed just has too much power or too much of a monopolized view, and I believe it needs some more oversight,” respondent Kathy Lipski tells Bloomberg.

Even so, many observers credit the Fed for helping the U.S. avoid financial disaster though some questionable policies such as QE2 (quantitative easing, not the famous cruise ship.)  Moreover, the Fed is supposed to be protected from the changing whims of the public.

Many investors may not be as nervous as some suspect given strong holiday sales — so far — and the rise in the stock market.   Experts do expect 2011 to be slightly better than 2010, though joblessness is expected to stay high for years.

Bloomberg could run the same poll throughout 2011 and probably get the same results.

–Jonathan Berr