Public Pulse

Forty-eight percent of the people responding to an April 2008 Pew Research Center poll said that free trade agreements are a bad thing for the country, compared with 35 percent who call them a good thing. In that same poll, 61 percent of respondents said that free trade causes job losses, 56 percent said it lowers wages and 50 percent said it slows the economy.

Seventy-two percent of members of the International Facility Management Association said they pay more attention to energy efficiency, up 10 percent since last year.

The American public, by an overwhelming margin, believes that the cost of the Iraq war is worsening domestic economic problems. In a New York Times/CBS News poll completed on April 2, 67 percent of respondents said the war had contributed “a lot” to American economic problems, and 22 percent said it was contributing “some.” Only 10 percent said “not much” or “not at all.”

According to a recent New York Times/CBS News poll, 70 percent of parents surveyed were “very concerned” about how they would pay for college; only 6 percent were not concerned.

U.S. News and World Report reports President Bush "often argues that history will vindicate him. So he can't be pleased with an informal survey of 109 professional historians conducted by the History News Network." The survey found that 98% of historians believe that Bush's presidency has been a failure. 61% say Bush is the worst in American history. Among the reasons given for his low ratings: invading Iraq, tax breaks for the rich, and alienating nations around the world.

Fewer Americans now than at any time in the past half century believe they're moving forward in life.

A majority of respondents in an April 2008 Pew Survey say that in the past five years, they either "haven't moved forward in life" (25%) or have "fallen backwards" (31%). This is the most downbeat short-term assessment of personal progress in nearly half a century of polling by the Pew Research Center and the Gallup organization, though it correlates perfectly with gaps in income, also discussed in the report.

According to the Energy Information Administration's Annual Energy Outlook 2008, U.S. demand for electricity will increase by 30 percent between 2006 and 2030.

A poll released Monday by Rasmussen Reports found that 63% of Americans believe the U.S. government isn't doing enough to help out the economy, while 19% believe the government's response has been adequate this election year.

Mostly Democrats believe that the government's response has been inadequate, however. Seventy seven percent of Democrats say the government hasn't done enough, while 43% of Republicans gave that response. Meanwhile, 67% of independent voters said the government isn't doing enough.

The economy is a key issue this election season. A Rasmussen poll released Sunday found that 38% of likely voters believe the economy is the top voting issue of the 2008 election, compared to 19% who said it's the war in Iraq. That same poll found that 48% of voters said the best thing the government can do for the economy is reduce taxes and regulations. The poll found that 36% disagree with that approach while 16% aren't sure. April 7, 2008.

The new Gallup poll shows that 51% of U.S. consumers say food prices have increased “a lot” over the past year, up from 28% two years ago, while 24% say the same about healthcare and prescription drugs, down from 34% in 2006.

When asked "How much has the Iraq war contributed to U.S. economic problems?", only 10% of those surveyed said not much or not at all, while 67% said "a lot", and 22% answered "some".