The Meaning of Economy: US and EU Attitudes Towards Economy in Time of Crisis

This paper focuses on American and European attitudes towards the economy before and during the financial and economic crisis. The analysis concerns six main topics: the importance of the e conomy, perceptions of the economic situation, support for free-market, attitudes towards globalization, and support for both governmental and international regulation. Results confirm a remarkable effect of the financial and economic crisis on public opinion in Europe and the US for the most part of indicators analyzed. Particularly, people are more concerned with economic matters and pessimist about the economic situation. EU and US publics are less distant than expected, especially during the crisis. Most evident differences concern support for a stronger market regulation. From a first investigation, this seems linked to the trust of American conservatives in the power of “selfregulation” of the market.