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Do Americans Believe Capitalism and Government Are Working?
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Do Americans Believe Capitalism and Government Are Working?

Religious Left, Religious Right and the Future of the Economic Debate

Robert P. Jones, Daniel Cox, Juhem Navarro-Rivera, E.J. Dionne Jr. and William A. Galston
Brookings Institution Press, 2013
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Overview

Recommendation

Robert P. Jones – CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute – and his colleagues from both PRRI and the Brooking Institution – surveyed Americans’ economic values. They asked respondents about the federal government, capitalism, equal opportunity, personal responsibility and values. They examined evolving religious coalitions and how they might affect America’s economic future. In many instances, the results proved predictable. Americans worry most about the lack of jobs, the national debt, the cost of health care, and the gap between rich and poor. Democrats and minorities want to raise taxes and spend money on social programs; Republicans and Tea Party respondents do not and express a belief in traditional values. However, responses from those who long for help from Washington suggest a nationwide drift toward the left. getAbstract recommends this highly accessible, informative report to economic planners, political officeholders, futurists and those curious about contemporary America’s economic pulse.

Take-Aways

  • Americans worry about the lack of jobs, budget deficits, the rising costs of health care and the gap between the rich and the poor.
  • Each generation feels the next will be worse off economically.
  • Seventy percent of Americans believe the rich-poor gap has grown steadily since 2003.

About the Authors

Robert P. Jones, PhD, is CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, where Daniel Cox is the research director and Juhem Navarro-Rivera is a researcher. E. J. Dionne is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution where senior fellow William A. Galston holds the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in the Governance Studies Program.

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