One Year After Financial Collapse, Majority (60%) of Americans Think Compensation Received by Wall Street Executives is Unreasonable

Washington, DC-One year after the financial collapse of Lehman Brothers that contributed to the meltdown of the global financial system, a full majority of Americans (60%) think the compensation received by Wall Street Executives is "unreasonable" and that bankers have fared better than other people during the current financial crisis (56%).

Assessing the Obama Administration mere days before President Obama went to Wall Street and chastised executives while urging Congress to pass tougher regulation of the bankers and brokers whom he blamed for the crisis in the financial markets one year ago, a new poll conducted for Reuters by Ipsos indicates that half (51%) of Americans think the Obama Administration has done "about the right amount" (26%) or "too much" (25%) about controlling compensation packages for executives while just over one third (36%) think the administration has done "too little".

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted September 11-14, 2009. For this survey, a national sample of 1,000 adults aged 18 and older were interviewed by a random telephone. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the U.S. adult population according to Census data. Included in the survey were 887 registered voters: 456 Democrats/Lean Democrats; 353 Republicans/Lean Republicans. The margin of error is + 3.1 for all adults and + 3.3 for registered voters (+ 4.6 for Democrats; + 5.2 for Republicans) 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire adult population of the United States had been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

Majority (60%) of Americans think compensation received by Wall Street executives is "unreasonable"...

A majority (60%) of Americans think the compensation, including salary and bonuses, received by Wall Street executives is "unreasonable" (41% completely/19% somewhat). This compares with 27% who believe the compensation received by Wall Street executives is "reasonable" (completely 8%/somewhat 19%). One in 10 (12%) indicated that they did not know or weren't sure.

• Of those who think the compensation is "unreasonable" (60%) they are more likely older [55+] Americans (67%) and those earning middle [$25k-$50k] (65%) and upper [$50k +] (66%) household income per year, have some college (65%) or college degree or higher (63%), be retired (66%), be registered voters (62%), Democrats (66%) and independents (60%), and be from the Northeast (64%) or the West (63%). There is no relative gender gap (female 62%/male 59%).
• Of those who think the compensation is "reasonable" (27%) they are more likely younger Americans [18-34 32%/35-54 29%] with household income under $25k per year (31%), from the South (33%) the unemployed (33%) and be Republican voters (37%).

Majority (56%) of Americans think bankers have fared better than other people during the current financial crisis...

A majority (56%) of Americans think bankers have fared better than other people during the current financial crisis compared with 26% who believe that they have fared worse. One in 10 (9%) believe they have fared "about the same" and 9% indicated that they do not know or are not sure.

• Among those who think bankers have fared better (56%) they are more likely male (59%), middle aged [35-54, 60%] and older [55+] (61%), lower [under $25k, 57%] and middle [$25k-$50k, 50%] household income per year, from the South (57%), West (57%) and Midwest (56%), have some college, are full-time workers (56%) or retired (62%), are registered voters (60%) or Democrats (60%).
• Among those who think bankers have fared worse (26%) they are more likely younger [18-34] (35%), part-time (34%) or not employed (33%), and Republican (31%).

What Americans Think about the Obama Administration on this File...

Half (51%) of Americans think the Obama Administration has done "about the right amount" (26%) or "too much" (25%) about controlling compensation packages. Just over one third (36%) think the Obama Administration has done "too little" about controlling compensation packages. A total of 14% of Americans indicate they either don't know or are not sure.

• Among those who believe the Obama Administration has done about the "right amount" (26%), they are more likely to be female (28%) and younger [18-34] (31%), lower [under$25k] household income per year (32%), from the Midwest (31%), part-time employed (33%) and Democrat (36%).
• Among those who believe the Obama Administration has done "too much" (25%) they are more likely to be those with some college education (30%), are not employed (31%) and Republican (37%).
• Among those who believe that the Obama Administration has done "too little" (36%), they are more likely to be male (40%), middle [$25k-$50k, 39%] and upper [$50k +] (40%) household income per year, and reside in the Northeast (40%).

For more information on this news release, please contact: Michael Gross, Ph.D. Vice President Ipsos Public Affairs 202.420.2012 [email protected]

About Ipsos Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.

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