Photo Credit: wsj.com

A Third Of Americans Think Another Recession Is on the Horizon

The Great Recession of the late 2000s is more than a decade in the past, and the media is full of good news about economic recovery. But a third of Americans aren’t so optimistic. In fact, a new BankRate survey of 1,000 people found that almost 40 percent believe another recession is coming.

The survey found that 47 percent of Americans believe the economy is doing “good,” while 12 percent rated it “excellent.” But the other 40 percent believe the economy is not good, or even “poor.” The majority of that 40 percent believe another recession will begin within the next year.

But economic experts are more hopeful than the average American, with most experts surveyed by BankRate confirming the economy is healthy.

“The Macroeconomic indicators are great — the unemployment rate is at a 50-year low, GDP growth has been solid, markets are buoyant and inflation is low and stable,” said Julia Coronado, president of economic research at a firm called Macropolicy Perspectives.

So why the pessimism? Although it’s been ten years, many people still haven’t recovered the wealth they lost during the Great Recession, Coronado says. Millennials who began their careers when the economy was struggling have never caught up and still have fewer assets, like their own home, than their parents did at their age. Coronado says growing wealth inequality also makes it hard for people at the bottom to feel the benefits of an economic boom.