Americans Are Rested and Ready for Action

Yesterday marked the effective end of summer for Americans. The calendar says the season has three more weeks to run, but Labor Day marks the last of the long weekends away from work. Oil prices are rising, and will continue to do so, unless traders think the Saudis will open the taps, in which case prices will fall. Dick Cheney has made the case for moving against Iraq, which we will do soon, unless President Bush heeds the words of his father’s advisers, in which case the risk-averse military will be allowed to stay in its barracks. The bear market is over, unless we are experiencing a “dead cat bounce,” in which case the bulls will get gored once again. And the economy is either in the midst of a recovery or headed towards a double-dip recession, depending on which economist you believe.

All very confusing and, anyhow, irrelevant to the day on which Americans downed the last gin-and-tonics of the season, considered whether to close up their summer houses or try for a few more weekends among the flora and fauna, and tossed steaks onto their barbecues in those states that have not banned such cooking because of fear of still more forest fires. Karlyn Bowman, far and away Washington’s most incisive analyst of American attitudes, says Americans typically are relaxed in August, and don’t focus on the country’s problems until after Labor Day. She has compiled a host of data that give us a better picture of the state of the union than we can get from the traditional presidential address.

Americans have overwhelmingly decided (68 percent) that they approve of the way the president is handling his job. An almost identical portion (67 percent) feel that the War on Terrorism is going very or somewhat well. And Americans have decided by 52 percent to 15 percent that they want to take out Saddam “even if it means thousands of American soldiers would be lost,” and, by 49 percent to 20 percent, that the Iraqi terror-sponsor must be deposed even if the war to get rid of him would take five years—so long as there is no draft, a move the majority opposes. Of those who favor military action, 8 in 10 would unleash our forces even if our traditional allies oppose such a move, which all save Tony Blair vow to do.

In short, the country has decided what must be done, and is looking to the president to decide on the when and how. Not much more to think about on this issue. Indeed, in a recent ABC News/Washington Post poll, more respondents cited the economy as an important issue (30 percent) that the government should address than named terrorism (24 percent). This might mean that the Democrats are winning the pre-November election battle to focus Americans’ minds on the economy, which they think is shaky, rather than on the War on Terrorism, the latter being an issue that gets patriotic juices flowing and support for the president soaring.

Whatever the reason, Americans are focusing on the economy. Some surveys of consumer confidence suggest that it is fading in the face of the continued failure of the job market to show renewed strength. Others suggest that rising real incomes are making Americans increasingly optimistic. Best to look at what consumers are doing. They are buying houses and cars in record numbers. Low mortgage rates are fueling record sales of new and existing homes, and continued rises in prices. Zero-interest-rate financing is “moving the metal” off showroom floors. And both industries are benefiting from disposable incomes that are rising at an annual rate of 5 percent.

With so much money going into homes and cars, it is not surprising that less is available for retailers, who are disappointed by slow back-to-school sales. Driving kids who have to make due with last year’s trainers to school in a new car doesn’t seem a bad trade-off to their parents, most of whom are quite happy with their lives.

Forget all the talk about stressed-out workers. Almost 90 percent of Americans tell the Gallup pulse-takers that they are very or somewhat satisfied with their jobs and the work they do. Moreover, all the talk about life becoming all work and no play may be just that—talk. People queried by Harris Interactive say they have more hours available in which to relax than at any time since 1980; those asked by Hart/Teeter say by almost two to one that they have more leisure time than their parents had; and 77 percent of those asked by the Roper ASW pollsters profess themselves satisfied with the amount of leisure and free time available to them. All of which may reflect the extent to which electrical power has replaced elbow grease as source of energy for washing up and other household chores, leaving more time free both for paid work and for play.

Not surprisingly, given the revealed greediness of some corporate bigwigs, Americans’ satisfaction with the president’s handling of the War on Terrorism, and with their own work situations, is not matched by happiness with the behavior of business executives. A record portion of Americans—58 percent—tell the Pew Research Center that “corporations make too much profit,” the highest percentage since the poll began in 1994. No wonder, considering that the public estimates that 34 percent of every dollar of sales revenue goes to after-tax profits; the actual figure, reported by the Department of Commerce, is 1.3 percent. Add in television images of handcuffed executives, and it is understandable that 48 percent of those polled have a “not too favorable” or unfavorable opinion of most big-business corporations, up sharply from 30 percent in March and 24 percent about a year ago.

There you have it. Americans are reasonably content with their lives. But today they return to full-time work, the prospect of war, and exposure to full-time politicking. Which is why many think summer had all too short a lease.

This article appeared in London’s Sunday Times on September 1, 2002, and is reprinted with permission.