Race Relations

According to an annual Gallup survey, the percent of respondents who judged race relations between black and white Americans to be "somewhat" or "very" good is at its highest level since 2001. Yet the disparity between the responses of African Americans and non-Hispanic whites is also at a record: 75 percent of whites feel that race relations are presently very or somewhat good, compared to only 55 percent of blacks. Today, 54 percent of Americans feel that racial problems in the United States will eventually be worked out--a significant increase since 1995, when, in the immediate aftermath of the O. J. Simpson criminal trial verdict, only 29 percent were similarly optimistic.

Source: Gallup Online, June 2007.

Economic Populism Resurgent?

A new Harris survey of five major European nations and the United States showed widespread opposition to globalization: substantial majorities or pluralities of respondents in all six countries felt that globalization was having a negative impact on their own country. Similarly, out of the Europeans polled who view globalization negatively, majorities ranging from 64 percent in Great Britain to 94 percent in Spain felt that the European Union should act to protect EU citizens from globalization's downsides.  Still, when asked whether "free competition" should also be a goal of the EU,  majorities or pluralities in the five European nations answered yes to this question as well.

Source: Harris Interactive, July 2007.

Cheers!

In a recent poll of what Americans drink, beer remains the most popular alcoholic beverage, narrowly beating wine.  The grapes apparently do get better with age, however, as wine is the preferred alcoholic beverage among drinkers over the age of 49 and among women.  Sixty-four percent of Americans say they drink alcoholic beverages—on par with historical average, but slightly up from the 1990s, when less the 60 percent said they drank at all.  Americans who do drink now consume almost five drinks a week on average, one more than they did a decade ago.

Source: Gallup Online, July 2007.

Economic Confidence: Not Yet in the Clear

Americans' confidence in the economy continues to improve gradually since hitting a low point in the early 2000's. A majority of Americans believe the economy is in fair, good, or excellent shape, and the percentage of Americans who believe the job market offers good opportunities has doubled since 2003.  Still, these numbers remain low compared to the late 1990s.  And despite the increasing perception of robustness, Americans are pessimistic about the economy's future prospects: in polls this year, between 52 and 70 percent have answered that the economy was getting worse, not better.

Source: Gallup Online, July 2007.

Job Prestige

In a new poll, Americans found the professions of firefighter, teacher, and scientist to be among the most prestigious, while banker, actor, and real estate professional fell at the bottom. (By comparison, members of Congress were viewed to be in about the middle of the group.) In general, jobs involving public service were highly esteemed. Media- and entertainment-related jobs such as actor, entertainer, journalist, and athlete, and business professions such as banker, accountant, stockbroker, and business executive all registered in the bottom half. Judging by the percentage of Americans who believe a job has "great prestige," the perceived prestige of most jobs has fallen since Harris began asking the question in 1977. Lawyers and scientists have both dropped 12 percentage points in the "great prestige" category in the past thirty years, athletes ten points, doctors nine points, and entertainers six percent.  Teaching is an exception. It has gained 25 percentage points since 1977, when 29 percent said it had great prestige.

Source: Harris Interactive, August 2007.