{"id":12974,"date":"2015-12-16T14:15:06","date_gmt":"2015-12-16T19:15:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/americans-views-of-fed-depend-on-their-politics\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:18:28","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:18:28","slug":"americans-views-of-fed-depend-on-their-politics","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/12\/16\/americans-views-of-fed-depend-on-their-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans\u2019 views of Fed depend on their politics"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Voters'<\/a><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Photo Credit: Hisham Ibrahim, Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n\n
\"Conservative<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates<\/a> for the first time in nearly a decade, views of the institution are not immune from today\u2019s politically polarized climate. In 2014, roughly half of Americans (47%) had a favorable opinion of the Fed and 37% had an unfavorable view. But Republicans, especially conservative Republicans, were more likely to view the institution unfavorably.<\/p>\n\n

Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents expressed favorable opinions of the Fed by a roughly two-to-one margin (57% vs. 28%). Only 39% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said the same, while nearly half (48%) expressed an unfavorable opinion.<\/p>\n\n

Among conservative Republicans, 54% viewed the Fed unfavorably, while just a third had a favorable opinion. Moderate and liberal Republicans were more likely than conservatives to view the Fed favorably (47%).<\/p>\n\n

\"Views<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Differences in opinion among Americans of different incomes were relatively modest, though those with higher incomes were more likely to have an opinion of the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n\n

However, the partisan gap in views of the Fed was much sharper among high-income Americans (those with family incomes of at least $150,000) than among those with lower incomes.<\/p>\n\n

\"Fed<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Roughly three-quarters (74%) of high-income Democrats had a favorable impression of the Fed, a view shared by just 40% of high-income Republicans (54% of whom viewed the Fed unfavorably).<\/p>\n\n

Democrats with family incomes of between $75,000 and $150,000 also had broadly positive views of the Fed (66% favorable, 24% unfavorable), while Republican views were divided (44% vs. 45%).<\/p>\n\n

Democrats with incomes of less than $30,000 felt less positively toward the Fed than did higher-income Democrats. Just 53% viewed it favorably, while 30% viewed it unfavorably. As a result, views among low- income households were not as polarized, but there was still a 13-percentage-point partisan difference in favorable views of the central bank (53% of Democrats vs. 40% of Republicans).<\/p>\n\n

Recent Pew Research Center surveys<\/a> have found that Janet Yellen, the current Fed chair, and Ben Bernanke, her predecessor, are not well known among the public.<\/p>\n\n

\"Bernanke<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Among those who were familiar enough with each to rate them, Bernanke\u2019s favorable rating stood at 54% in March 2008, before the financial crisis peaked in the fall of that year. Republicans and Republican leaners expressed far more favorable opinions of Bernanke (71%) than did Democrats and Democratic leaners (45%).<\/p>\n\n

In September 2013, toward the end of his tenure, partisan views of Bernanke had shifted: 69% of Democrats viewed him favorably, compared with 43% of Republicans.<\/p>\n\n

In early 2014, Democrats had a more favorable opinion of Yellen, President Barack Obama\u2019s choice to succeed Bernanke (79% favorable). However, Republicans viewed Yellen about as favorably (41% favorable) as they had Bernanke a year earlier.<\/p>\n\n

Alan Greenspan\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Bernanke\u2019s predecessor\u00a0\u2013\u00a0was also not very well known among the public in May 2000. Among those who offered an opinion, however, views of Greenspan were quite positive: 76% had a favorable opinion. There was also no partisan difference in opinion \u2013\u00a0equal shares of Republicans and leaners and Democrats and leaners (76% each) reported a favorable view of the then-chair.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republicans, especially conservative Republicans, were more likely to view the institution unfavorably.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"relatedPosts":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0,"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[]},"categories":[232,235,32,80,440],"bylines":[745],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-12974","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","hentry","category-economic-conditions","category-economic-policy","category-economy-work","category-federal-government","category-recessions-recoveries","bylines-shiva-maniam","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-politics"],"label":"Short 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