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Old 02-20-2007, 08:50 AM
DVaut1 DVaut1 is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
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Default Re: The Political Economy of Envy

For what it's worth, here's an dialogue from last week between two pollsters, Mark Blumenthal and Gallup's Frank Newport, about whether or not Americans are really angst-ridden over the state of the economy, and how that angst (if real) is manifesting itself in polling.

Newport claims the angst doesn't exist -- or at least, that it hasn't been measured in significant amounts; Blumenthal claims the angst does exist, and that some of the American frustration over their current economic conditions has been transferred to frustration over Iraq in survey data -- Blumenthal also claims that current survey methods of consumer confidence may be inadequate and miss important data elements:

Gallup Chief Doubts There Is a Perceptible Middle-Class Angst

Blumenthal Thinks There Is Angst, But It's Been Directed Towards Iraq

Newport Response to Blumenthal

Blumenthal Response to Newport Retort

Recent Gallup Survey Data On Consumer Views of the American Economy


I think knowing exactly how frustrated people are by perceived harms caused by globalization is vital in understanding just what kind of government interventions, if any, will eventually be demanded.
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