Bailout of Construction Industry
While majorities in the United States and the three largest European countries favor government bailouts of the construction industry, a slender majority in Italy (52%) and a larger majority in Spain (68%) oppose the idea.
Banks
Americans oppose a government bailout of banks by an almost two-to-one majority (65% to 35%). Larger majorities oppose bank bailouts in France (77%), Italy (74%), Spain (79%) and Germany (76%). In Britain, 64% oppose bailing out banks.
Insurance
Opposition to bailing out insurance companies is even stronger. The majorities opposed to this vary from 77% in the United States (where the government has already bailed out the insurance giant AIG) to 80% in Britain, 86% in France, 88% in Italy, 82% in Spain and 84% in Germany.
Car Manufacturers
Substantial majorities in all six countries also oppose bailing out their automobile industries. Those opposing government bailouts are highest in the United States (69%) and lowest in France (58%) and Germany (57%).
So What?
Whatever their governments and political leaders may believe and say, the general public in the United States and the largest European countries seems to believe that letting large banks, insurers and car manufacturers go bankrupt is better than using public funds to prop them up.
However, it is striking that the public is much more supportive of using taxpayers’ money to support the construction industry. This difference may reflect public hostility to very large companies ("big business") that are household names in three industries and the relatively smaller companies in the construction industry. It may reflect support for more spending on infrastructure in order to stimulate the economy. Or it may be that many people are angry about the failures of the banking, insurance and automobile industries and not angry about the construction industry.
