Economy

Topics at a Glance

Public opinion about the Economy: stock market, jobs, consumer confidence, inflation and more.

Explore Questions

NY Stock Exchange Floor - Questions and Datasets on the Economy

Economy Questions

Explore Datasets

Economy Datasets

Issue Brief

If I Were a Rich Man: Public Attitudes About Wealth and Taxes

In his State of the Union address President Obama called for tax increases for the wealthiest Americans. Does the public support such a tax increase, and how do their attitudes fit into larger perceptions about wealth?

The Microfoundations of (Non-)Redistribution in Colombia

Why do some democracies remain so highly unequal? Existing political science literature equips us with surprisingly little theoretical tools to understand, much less answer, this incredibly important question. Existing foundational theories suggest that given a certain period of time, democracies should eventually redistribute income or wealth and become more egalitarian. Yet, there are a substantial number of countries that have experienced democratic rule for decades and remain virtually as unequal as they did before they democratized. Furthermore, current global trends suggest, generally speaking, inequality is on the rise in many democracies throughout the world.

In the Balance: The Public, the Budget and the Deficit

Recent news on the federal budget deficit has been unusually positive: the deficit is shrinking.

Cutting through the Noise

Public Perspective, March April 2003. The UBS Index of Investor Optimism - The world is full of financial information ...

Everything’s Different, Nothing’s Changed

Public Perspective, January/February 2002. The immeasurable tragedy of September 11, 2001, and the events that followed, mean that everything has ...

"If the Economy Is So Good, Why Are So Many Feeling So Bad?" Bannon, Brad

Public Perspective, December/January 1998. Politicians, economists and journalists alike rave about the economy recovery the U.S. has enjoyed in the ...

Related Data

UBS Index of Investor Optimism, 1996-2007

The Roper Center archives the entire collection of the UBS Index of Investor Optimism studies. A joint effort of UBS and the Gallup Organization, the UBS Index of Investor Optimism is the only ongoing survey of investor outlook in the United States and Europe. Introduced in 1996 as a quarterly survey, which became monthly in 1999, the Index profiles individual investors to ensure that their attitudes, perceptions and concerns are represented in the national dialogue. Through the Roper Center, the UBS Index of Investor Optimism - U.S. and Index - EU 5 data are available to researchers in several customized formats. For the U.S.