New Survey: It’s the Economy
Public concern grows despite assurances of ‘bumpy’ recovery
By James Toedtman
CHIEF ECONOMIC CORRESPONDENT
October 11, 2002
Washington - A continent away, Emma Price was preoccupied with the West Coast dockworkers' dispute.
"I've been a nervous wreck," said Price, president of Edison Price Lighting Co., a Long Island City firm that makes light fixtures. Buried in the backlog caused by the 10-day labor flap that all but closed West Coast ports were the Asian-made components for ballasts she needs for her lights. As the conflict spread and the backlog grew, so did her worry. The labor dispute was threatening to reduce the stockpile of ballasts she and her 150 workers need.
Her anxiety has caught the attention of the nation's political leaders and has been captured in new public opinion polls that show a sharp increase in pubic preoccupation with the struggling economy.
"I tell people we're on the bumpy road to recovery," Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said yesterday at a hastily arranged news conference. But on Capitol Hill, House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) blamed O'Neill for causing the bumps. "They seem to think it's [the economy] great," he said. "Well, I don't think the electorate believes that when they're picking up their 401(k) statements and they've lost two-thirds of what they had in their retirement plan."
O'Neill may be right. The national economy may avoid a double-dip recession, and unemployment may not rise. But the nation is increasingly anxious about investments, jobs and the sluggish pace of recovery. According to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for People and the Press, public interest in the economy has more than doubled since June.
The percentage of people who said they wanted their candidates to discuss the economy in the current campaign rose from 20 percent in June to 55 percent in a telephone survey of 1,513 persons completed last Sunday. By contrast, the percentage of people saying they wanted to hear terrorism and foreign policy, including Iraq, discussed fell from 26 percent in June to 22 percent. "They are concerned about jobs, and they are concerned about the economy," said poll director Andrew Kohut.
The economy has been buffeted by surprises that have helped lift concerns about the economy and the markets toward the top of the public agenda. The end of the high-tech investment bubble has been accompanied by escalating federal spending, especially because of the war on terrorism. Corporate scandals have undermined confidence in the nation's stock markets,the dollar has weakened, energy prices have been erratic, and there are questions about the slumping global economy.
O'Neill and Commerce Secretary Donald Evans tried again yesterday to emphasize the economy's positives. Their remarks reflect awareness the economy could become a critical issue in the congressional elections when Republicans' seven-seat edge in the House and Democrats' one-seat edge in the Senate are at stake.
Irwin Kellner, Weller professor of economics at Hofstra University, foresees a problem if the administration prolongs the military debate for political purposes. Referring to the movie featuring a president who diverted attention from a personal scandal by launching a military attack, he said, "If this administration has a 'Wag the Dog' strategy, it is backfiring because this economy is becoming the primary concern."
Copyright © 2002, Newsday, Inc.
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