Americans Have Lack of Confidence in Economic Leaders

(DailyVantage.com) – At its very best the economy is currently on shaky ground. Having remained unusually high, inflation is in the forefront of everyone’s mind, including Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

The most recent attempt to bring inflation into check saw the Fed raise interest rates another half percent, the tenth consecutive increase of its kind over the last year, coming in at just over 5%. Alongside the breakneck pace of interest rate hikes another number has had a year to cool down, Powell’s confidence with the American public has fallen from 58% in 2020 to a mere 36%, according to a Gallup poll released May 9, 2023.

The Annual Economy and Finance Gallup poll was conducted after Fed Chair Powell made uncertain comments to reporters after the most recent rate hike hoping that, unlike similar rate increases, these won’t lead to the recession typical of similar rate hikes in the past, but indicated it as a possibility.

Powell isn’t the only one suffering an overall lack of confidence, economic leaders across the board are losing the confidence of voters. In fact, President Joe Biden has the most telling numbers of all, with 48% of respondents to the poll having almost no confidence in Biden’s ability to do the right thing for the economy or make recommendations to improve it. That is less confidence than all the other leaders in the poll, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen the highest confidence of the people polled at 37%, still an underwhelming number.

Alongside our economic leaders Biden, Powell, and Yellen, Republican leaders in Congress got the overall highest rating of confidence and the lowest number saying they had almost no confidence. This is a better sign of confidence in Republican congressional leaders to pull the economy out away from the edge of recession.

With a 7 point drop from 2022-2023 Powell walks away with the largest loss, but earning a confidence below 40% across all the economic leaders is the first occurrence in the 22 years since the poll began in 2001.