Americans find plenty to be frightened about this Halloween with more than three-in-four now saying that the U.S. economy is either in a recession (58%) or –horrors — even a real depression (19%). About one-in-ten (12%) think the economy is just having a few problems, but only 7% say the economy can be considered excellent or good. Americans have had fears about the state of the economy throughout the year. In March, long before the financial crisis took full effect, seven-in-ten voters said they thought the economy was in a recession (56%) or depression (15%). Read More

Russell Heimlich  is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.