Almost half of Americans think that there will be “total economic collapse” in the United States in the next decade, a survey suggests.
According to a new YouGov poll, when asked how likely this is, 44 percent of respondents said they believe it is likely — 15 percent said “very likely,” and 29 percent said “somewhat likely.”
A total of 39 percent of respondents believed it was unlikely — 15 percent said “not likely at all” and 25 percent said “not very likely.” The remaining 16 percent were not sure, and 2 percent declined to answer.
It came as part of a survey of 1,113 US adult citizens taken between October 17 and 19, and responses have a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
Republican respondents were much more concerned about the future of the economy than Democratics — 21 percent of Republicans said that economic collapse in the next decade is very likely, compared to only 22 percent of Democrats and 49 percent of independents.
The future of the economy has been a leading issue in the run-up to the 2024 election. Over half of Americans believe that the economy is going in the wrong direction, according to polling conducted for Newsweek earlier this month that found that the economy in general is the number one topic of concern for voters. This could be bad news for Harris, as most voters are displeased with Joe Biden’s handling of the economy, and various polls have found that Trump is well-trusted in this area.
Economic models point to inflation easing and interest rates starting to fall, however, 48 percent of respondents to Newsweek‘s poll said they were said they were worse off than they had been in July 2020.
Republicans in particular demonstrated this view — 76 percent of Trump supporters believe they are worse off today than they were four years ago, compared to just 19 percent of Harris voters.
Kamala Harris speaking about improving the cost of living at the Hendrick Center For Automotive Excellence on August 16, 2024 in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Grant Baldwin/Getty Images
As well as the economy, Trump has focused on immigration as a key aspect of his platform, although data suggests voters are slightly less focused on the border than they are on inflation.
Recent Newsweek polling suggests that abortion has overtaken immigration as the second most important issue in the election in recent months, with a strong difference between genders, as male voters tend to prioritize border control and women voters are more likely to say reproductive rights are more important.
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