Debt Passes Terrorism as Economists’ Biggest Worry
A survey of American economists has found that for the first time, many consider heavy debt loads and mortgage defaults to be bigger threats to the U.S. economy than terrorism.
The study surveyed 259 members of the National Association for Business Economics, most of whom are economists working at either the academic level or for corporations and think tanks.
Close to a third of the respondents said they consider debt-related problems
to be their top worry, followed by 18% concerned about subprime loan defaults and 14% worried about excessive household or corporate debt.
Only 20% considered defense concerns or the economic disruption that could follow a terrorism attack as a primary worry, down 15% from the NABE’s March survey.
The more recent study was conducted July 24 to Aug. 14 and may not yet reflect the total fallout from this summer’s credit market collapse.
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