hypocritexposer
Well-known member
Other specific findings from the poll include the following:
* Approximately half of the survey respondents knew the current unemployment rate in the U.S., less than a third understood the role of the Federal Reserve and slightly over a quarter could correctly identify Ben Bernanke as the current chair of the Federal Reserve.
* On a test of current economic facts, students who have taken or are currently taking an economics course perform slightly better than those who have not (an average of 2.5 versus 1.9).
* In response to a question about whether or not China will surpass the U.S. as an economic power in the next 20 years, 47% responded "definitely" or "probably", while another 40% responded "maybe".
* 84% of the sample believes that it is either "important" or "very important" for the current government to control the level of debt.
* 40% of the sample indicated that the recent economic crisis has "definitely" affected their family's spending habits, while another 46% indicated that it has "somewhat" affect their spending.
* Almost half of the sample believes that social security will not be available by the time they retire, while another 35% believe it will be less generous than it currently is.
* Overall, 50% of teenagers believe that the economy will be better in five years than it is now, 16% believe it will be roughly the same, while 34% believe it will be worse than it currently is.
* Expectations of the future differ greatly by race. 69% of African American teenagers believe that their standard of living will be better than their parents, but only 36% of White teenagers expect this to be true.
* There is also a large racial divide regarding attitudes towards President Obama's performance to date in office. 70% of African Americans in the survey give Obama a favorable rating, but the analogous number is only 21% for Whites.
http://www.hamilton.edu/news/polls/Economics/