Fortune Poll Shows 48 Percent of Americans Spending Less Than 12 Months Ago

[Robbien]

Source: Fortune Magazine

According to a FORTUNE poll released today, 48% of Americans surveyed report spending less today than 12 months ago. Only slightly over one-quarter (28%) of Americans report spending more, while a similar amount (24%) report spending the same amount.

The economy ranks as the Number 1 issue facing Americans today, with 87% of respondents saying it was "very" or "extremely" important to them." The survey includes the state of the economy, effects on personal spending, employment, international trade and which political party would do a better job of addressing these issues. As fears of a recession continue to rise, the nation’s economy has replaced the Iraq War as the most important issue facing Americans today. The FORTUNE poll, conducted January 14-16, 2008 finds two-thirds (65%) of Americans believe the economic conditions in this country are getting worse.

Three-quarters (73%) believe the economic conditions in the country right now are only fair or poor.

However, there are significant differences along party lines with a slight majority of Republicans (55%) saying the economy is only fair or poor compared to 87% of Democrats and 76% of Independents.

Read more: http://www.rtoonline.com/Content/Article/Jan08/FortuneP...

[msongs]

1. and the congress and Fed are screwing us as our reward.

live responsibly and save money? guess what, savings interest = 4%, inflation rate = 4%. Saving and living responsibly gets you nothing for your effort. Even a 5% CD is becoming rare and that's barely more than inflation.

better to live off of credit cards because you think their money is a gift eh?

Msongs

[Zorra]

2. WOW!!! Half the people in our country? That is a very substantial number. n/t

[ProudDad]

3. This is VERY good news

starve the beast...

Buy local

Buy used

Think twice -- most of the time you don't need to buy anything at all...

Simplify and Starve the Beast...

[Acadia Blue]

5. Yes. Stop feeding the pigs (corporate big box pigs)

[bdamomma]

6. starve those pigs is correct.

[Acadia Blue]

4. I started cutting back longer than that just because of GW and concerns

he would F the economy up by giving everything to the have and have mores and he did just that.

[davsand]

7. The cost of living is going up rapidly. How are they spending less?

I can't help but wonder if there was some confusion when people answered that poll.

I am spending about double what I used to at the grocery store, and the cost of a tank of gas sure hasn't gone down any either. My mortgage payment went up because the property taxes went up, my home heating cost is at an all time high, and my health insurance out of pocket is much higher than it was just last year...

In no way am I spending less to stay alive than I did last year. I AM, however, spending less on the things I have any control over--like donations to charities or even political campaigns.

Our economy has been in the toilet for quite a while now, and I simply can't imagine that anybody who is not in a coma is unaware of that.



Laura

[Gormy Cuss]

9. There may be some confusion, or they may be spending less.

The word "spending" could trigger some unexpected interpretations. Some respondents may have replied in terms of discretionary spending rather than their overall household spending. It would have been help to ask the same respondents if they were spending more or less on specific items, such as groceries, heating/cooling or other household expenses, shopping for clothes, electronics, etc.

OTOH, some respondents may in fact be spending less. These would be people who had a habit of spending a lot on nonessentials, not people who have to live paycheck to paycheck. If one is unsure of one's job security and feels that a recession is coming, it's prudent to rein in the spending and increase savings.

[humbled_opinion]

8. Oh the Great Economy....