Senior Fellow Kevin A. Hassett

The rich have taken over the country and are steering all the gains of economic growth to themselves. The middle class's standard of living is declining, while risk is increasing.

This has been a steady theme throughout the Bush years, and it's perhaps best exemplified in a recent book by Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker. In his book, "The Great Risk Shift,'' Hacker argues that the economic transformation that has made life riskier for ordinary folks is a great opportunity for Democrats.

The problem with this line is that it's about as false as can be. Sure, you can find some economic statistics that are consistent with it, but it's easy enough to find lots of other numbers that look brilliant. On balance, the economic picture has been quite rosy.

Indeed, a recent, thorough study of public attitudes by my colleague at the American Enterprise Institute, Karlyn Bowman, reveals startling patterns in the attitudes of Americans toward the economy. At this moment, they are about as satisfied as they have ever been.

Bowman gathered public opinion data from a number of sources and looked at questions about economic security that have been asked for years.

First, she studied job anxiety. The Gallup Poll has long been asking the question: "Thinking about the next 12 months, how likely is it that you will lose your job or be laid off?'' If the New York Times's spin of the world is correct, then this question is the perfect one. Anxiety should be skyrocketing.

Job Security

But it isn't. In 1975, 83 percent of Americans said they are either not at all likely or not too likely to lose their job. In 1998, at the peak of the "Clinton boom,'' 87 percent responded in that manner. In 2006, 89 percent of Americans felt secure. The sense of security is increasing.

A poll conducted by CBS News and the New York Times asked people how concerned they are that they or someone in their household might lose their job in the next year. In 1994, 40 percent weren't concerned at all. That number declined sharply through 1996, when it troughed at 29 percent, but it was back to 39 percent in 2004. Since the middle of the Clinton presidency, feelings of job security have advanced sharply.

Love Their Work

Sure, but the jobs that people have are terrible now, right? In 1989, Gallup asked people how satisfied they were with their work. Forty-five percent said they were completely satisfied. In 2005, that number had climbed to 52 percent.

Well, maybe they have jobs, but prices of the things that ordinary folks buy have gone up too much. Folks are struggling to make ends meet, right? Guess again.

In 1991, the Los Angeles Times began asking people about their personal financial situation. Back then, 68 percent of Americans thought their finances were either very secure or fairly secure. That number dropped to 57 percent by 1993 but climbed all the way to 71 percent by last January. Again, people feel more secure today.

Americans increasingly even show signs of being sated. In 1992, U.S. News & World Report asked people if they earned enough money to live the kind of life they wanted. Only 39 percent of Americans said yes. In October 2006, a PSRA/Pew survey asked the same question, and 46 percent of Americans felt that their income was adequate for their needs.

Forget Outsourcing

One could go on and on. Some 88 percent of Americans aren't worried at all that they will lose their jobs to outsourcing. Only 9 percent are worried they won't be able to make the minimum payment on their credit card.

Americans feel so much better than we have been led to believe because they look at their wallets and not the New York Times when deciding what they think about the world.

But the general feeling of unease that is drummed up by the media has a real effect.
Most importantly, it creates a climate within which politicians are tempted to create big government programs to protect folks from increased danger that isn't there. Those measures, which would take us in the direction of the European welfare state, would surely harm just those individuals they purport to help. Voters might even be tricked into supporting them.

Even though most individuals feel secure, they might sympathize with those many others who don't and favor taking steps to help them.

It is time that we face up to an important fact: The basic characteristics of our economy are steadily being misrepresented by individuals with a blatant anti-market political agenda. The U.S. economy has prospered because free markets work. It's not a nightmare, it's a dream.

Kevin A. Hassett is a senior fellow and director of economic policy studies at AEI.