Canadians are the second most optimistic people in the world, according to a recent global survey from the International Trade Union Confederation.
Among the Canadians surveyed, 61 percent said the country was moving in the right direction, compared to 39 percent who thought it was moving in the wrong direction.
This is a stark contrast with the general pessimism displayed by the 13 surveyed countries, where an average of 58 percent said their country was moving in the wrong direction, 38 percent said it was moving in the right direction, and 4 percent said they didn’t know.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the most pessimistic country was Greece, at 91 percent negativity versus 9 percent positivity. However, European Union countries as a whole displayed widespread pessimism.
By contrast, Brazil—the most optimistic country—has 69 percent of its population believing the country is on the right track.
Overall Pessimism, Banks Too Powerful
The trend of global pessimism prevailed through all aspects of the survey. Over 50 percent of respondents in 10 out of 13 countries—including Canada—expected future generations to be worse off than their own generation.
However, when asked to rate the economic situation, Canadians grew optimistic again: 60 percent believe the economy is good or very good, coming in behind only Brazil and Germany in ratings related to the economy.
The global view of the economy was negative, with 68 percent believing the situation to be bad or very bad. Greece and Japan rated low on the poll, with 97 and 96 percent respectively reacting negatively to those countries’ economic situation.
The survey also found that people believe banks and large corporations have an enormous influence on economic decisions. These entities are too powerful, survey respondents said, especially when compared to small businesses, voters, and to a lesser extent, workers and their unions.
Respondents in EU countries point to banks as the most powerful economic factor and are highly critical of this, while the U.S. and Canada see big corporations as holding the most power.
Jobs, Growth Triumph Austerity
In every country surveyed, a jobs-and-growth approach to the economic crisis was preferred over austerity.
The survey described jobs and growth as investing in job creation and allowing the economy to grow so that debts could be paid. Austerity was described as paying off debts now by cutting government spending and lowering wages.
Preference for the jobs-and growth approach was especially strong in EU countries, including Bulgaria, Greece, and Germany. U.S. respondents were most ambivalent about the choice. About 44 percent said they preferred jobs-and-growth, while 42 percent preferred both options equally.
The survey was designed by Netherlands-based Anker Solutions and carried out by TNS Opinion.
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