Pacific Views

Younger Americans Comfortable With Big Corporations

This, according to a March 2nd Gallup poll whose results were forwarded to me via email.

People aged 18-29 were 54% likely to be 'very' or 'somewhat' satisfied with the size and influence of major corporations. In those aged 30-49 years, that figure was 39%, dropping to 35% among 50-64 year olds, and around 32% in those over 65.

Gallup economist Dennis Jacobe suggests several possibilities for the overall favorability among those under 29, in addition to the usual explanation that they might not have enough experience. In their lifetimes, dominant tech companies have been generally respected, the government no longer goes after monopolies like they did, and business schools don't pay much attention to antitrust laws anymore. And in personal terms, he suggests that job losses are more likely to impact more experienced members of the workforce, as well as the existence of a crop of young investors that made money during the last boom.

You could also add to that the fact that economic and business news is almost always narrated from the perspective of the business owner, and that youth culture glorifies the ultra-rich more than was common in the past.

But as a partial disagreement, most of the younger investors I knew during the boom lost their shirts. But I'm willing to suspect that when he speaks of 'young' investors that he includes anyone under 40 in his mental abstract. People under 30 don't invest much, but they probably are swayed by the idea that they could strike it rich through investing at some point in the future.

Anyone hoping for media sanity in the future shouldn't despair, though. Lou Dobbs may yet save the day.