Monday, October 17, 2011

Gallup Poll -- Basic Access Index


According to Gallup:
Americans' access to healthcare, food, and shelter worsened the most in September compared with when the Basic Access Index was at its high point in September 2008. Fewer Americans now have a personal doctor and health insurance. And more Americans are having trouble paying for food and shelter.
This index is based on reported perceptions and I suspect are not comparable from one society to another. Thus in poor countries the view of the money needed to get an adequate diet may be different than that in the United States. So too, I would not compare the values on the index in the distant past with those today, except as an index of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the current situation.

The results today with those of a few years ago are more credible, and they may go a long way to explaining why Americans are so angry at a government and big business that don't seem to be helping much.

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