North Dakotans feel well insulated from recession
North Dakotans feel well insulated from recession North Dakotans are pessimistic about a rapid recovery of the national economy, but they don’t expect to be touched personally by recession. According to the latest Prairie Poll, more than 80 percent of those responding said they don’t expect a rapid recovery of the economy, but nearly as many think North Dakota’s economy will continue to be strong. The Prairie Poll periodically surveys readers of 11 community newspapers from around the state. The most recent poll was conducted earlier this month, amid news of a possible bailout for automakers, a continued plummeting of the stock market, and predictions of a potentially lengthy and deep recession. Only about 13 percent of those polled believe a bailout of the nation’s banking and auto industries are necessary. Thirty-nine percent said a bailout of the financial industry was a bad idea. North Dakotans like the idea of an automaker bailout even less, with 49 percent calling it a bad idea. However, a high percentage of people in either case said they were uncertain if bailouts were the right action to take -- 47 percent were uncertain about the need for a financial industry bailout and 38 percent were uncertain about the need for an automaker bailout. People in Grafton were most pessimistic about the possibility of a rapid economic recovery, (94 percent) but they were the most optimistic (96 percent) about the strength of North Dakota’s economy. Rolla had the fewest number of people who believe North Dakota’s economy will remain strong (64 percent), but also the highest number of people expressing uncertainty. (26 percent).
