Economic Policy

The estimated cost of the two federal government shutdowns in fiscal 1996 was more than $1.4 billion ($2.1 billion in today's dollars).

Survey Report With a possible government shutdown just hours away, public anger at the federal government is as high as at any point since the Pew Research Center began asking the question in 1997. Anger is most palpable among conservative Republicans – 41% say they are angry at the federal government, the highest among any […]

As the government faces its first shutdown since 1995-1996, the standoff between the Obama administration and Republicans over the federal budget is occurring in a different public opinion environment than when President Bill Clinton faced off with the GOP-controlled House.

The 1995-1996 government shutdowns didn’t help the GOP’s image, but the party had lost support among the public well before they happened.

Raising the federal debt limit has given both Republicans and Democrats, in Congress and the White House, fits for decades.

Nearly seven-in-ten Americans say large banks and financial institutions have benefited the most from post-recession government policies.

Survey Report As Ben Bernanke prepares to step down as chairman of the Federal Reserve in January, the public views him somewhat more favorably (38%) than unfavorably (31%), with 32% unable to offer a rating. Bernanke is better known now than he was in March 2008, when 55% could not rate him; at that time, […]

The share of Republicans who say government regulation of financial institutions has gone too far is 38 percentage points higher than Democrats.

Overview Five years after the U.S. economy faced its most serious crisis since the Great Depression, a majority of Americans (63%) say the nation’s economic system is no more secure today than it was before the 2008 market crash. Just a third (33%) think the system is more secure now than it was then. Large […]

Proposals to raise the minimum wage face stiff opposition in Congress from Republicans, particularly in the House. But within the GOP base, there are sharp educational and income differences over the issue.