A new poll shows Americans hate Wall Street. Of course, bankers are never popular. But maybe never less so than right now. Yet polls also show Americans cynical about Big Anything — Big Money, Big Business, Big Government. As Sen. John McCain likes to say, the approval ratings of Congress are so low, its only supporters must be paid staffers and blood relatives.
That helps explains why the nation has not been flocking to government-created solutions such as the stimulus plan and healthcare reform. This isn’t a time when Americans are shifting from believing in markets to believing in government. It’s a time when the last remaining shred of faith in the country’s elite is quickly eroding.