Say it like it is

The results from the Reuters/Zogby Index are in: Americans are worried. The mood in the US is negative, and confidence in companies and the government is almost as low as it was back in 1932, right after the Great Depression.

According to the index, the percentage of Americans who still have confidence in their nation and its institutions dropped from 25 percent in September to 18 percent in October. And ratings for the Bush administration also fell: only 7 percent of the US population gave the administration positive marks for its economic policy, which is 6 percentage points lower than September.

So here’s the bottom line: “People feel like nothing in the country is working – the president, Congress, corporations,” explained pollster John Zogby. “People just don’t have much faith.”

That’s the diplomatic version. Here the real picture for Americans and the rest of the world: investors are scrambling to sell off their shares; banks are refusing to give loans; the world’s stock markets are plummeting; small to medium size businesses are going under because they can’t get loans; employees are getting laid-off, and because banks have increased their loan requirements, the newly unemployed are unable to get loans to tie them up until they find new jobs, which, sadly, may lead to a number of missed rents or mortgage payments. Do you see where we’re going with this?

The lack of confidence in institutions and governments is felt throughout, especially, given the immediate effect the global crisis is having on everyone, everywhere.

However, analysts continue to say that we will not know the extent of the damage until 2009 rolls around. By then, corporate budgets would’ve be reassessed, banks and institutions would’ve published their annual reports, and the severity of the ‘recession’ would’ve been quantified.

It’s up to the Americans, and the rest of the world, to be patient and to see what governments and corporations around the world will do to sort this mess out.