Public in Favor of Financial Reform

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According to a new Washington Post poll:

63% want stronger regulation of the financial industry
43% want stronger regulation of derivatives
53% support requiring banks pay into a fund to help wind down failed financial institutions
59% support stronger regulation of consumer finance products

I’m a little unsure if this is good news or bad news. It’s good that there’s generally majority (or better) support for all this stuff, but the majorities aren’t all that big. I wouldn’t be surprised, for example, if lots of people had no opinion on regulation of derivatives, but I am surprised that among those who do have an opinion, support for stronger regulation is so weak (43%-41%).

On the other hand, numbers like these are often high and then fall once the political debate starts. These numbers are (mostly) still fairly high even though the public debate has been in full swing for a month or two. So that’s promising.

Overall, though, the public doesn’t exactly seem ready to hit the streets with pitchforks and torches. Maybe public opinion would be stronger if we could somehow convince them that Goldman Sachs planned to convene death panels?