American attitudes towards Wall Street are ambivalent. Most people believe that Wall Street benefits the country and that what it does is “absolutely essential.” However, attitudes towards the people who work on Wall Street are overwhelmingly negative and are far lower than they were before 2008 and the bail-out of large banks and other financial institutions, with little or no improvement over the last year. The net result? Fully 82% of all adults believe that Wall Street should be regulated more toughly.

These are the results of a nationwide telephone survey of 1,010 adults surveyed between February 16 and 21, 2010. The survey includes several questions that Harris has asked many times over the last 15 years, so this year’s results can be compared with attitudes before Wall Street’s crisis in 2008.

The main findings of this Harris Poll include:

- Most people (56%) agree that Wall Street “benefits the country” but most of these people (44%) believe it only does so “somewhat” and only 11% believe it does so “a lot.”

- Most people (59%) also agree that “Wall Street is absolutely essential” and only 34% think it is not.

However, these positive attitudes to Wall Street’s functions stand in stark contrast to the public’s negative attitudes to the people who work on Wall Street:

- A 66% to 29% majority agrees that “most people on Wall Street would be willing to break the law if they believed they could make a lot of money and get away with it.”

- A 65% to 29% majority disagrees that “most successful people on Wall Street deserve to make the kind of money they earn.”

- A 64% to 31% majority disagrees that “in general, people on Wall Street are as honest and moral as other people.”

- A 61% to 33% majority also disagrees that “what is good for Wall Street is good for the country.”

The result of these hostile feelings about the people who work in Wall Street firms is that a massive 82% to 14% majority believes that “recent events have shown that Wall Street should be subject to tougher regulation.”

Bonuses

One issue that has greatly annoyed many people is the large bonuses paid by Wall Street firms even when they lost hundreds of billions of dollars and needed to be bailed out by the government (i.e., the taxpayers). A large 75% to 21% majority of adults believes that “Wall Street firms should only pay bonuses when they are doing well and making good profits.”

Trends

In surveys conducted over the ten years between 1996 and 2006, attitudes to Wall Street were relatively stable. However, hostility to Wall Street, and in particular, to the people who worked for Wall Street firms, increased very sharply after the 2008 crash. These negative feelings have persisted; attitudes to Wall Street have changed very little over the last 12 months.

So what?

Those who manage large banks and other financial institutions can draw some comfort from the majorities who believe that Wall Street is “essential” and “benefits the country,” even if these numbers are much worse than they were before the 2008 crash.

On the other hand, there is no evidence that the American people have begun to forgive the people in Wall Street or to forget the huge problems that they caused. More than four out of five adults want them to be regulated more toughly.