What’s the biggest threat to the U.S. economy? Terrorism? Another financial crisis? Jacked-up interest rates? A tanking stock market?
Here’s the surprising answer from a new Bankrate poll: the upcoming election.
Related: US Economy Still Sluggish and the Election Isn’t Helping, Say Top CEOs
In a phone survey of 1,004 adults taken by Princeton Survey Research Associates International in the first week of September, six out of 10 respondents pointed to the election as the gravest danger to the country’s economic health. Republicans at 68 percent cited the election more frequently than independents at 61 percent or Democrats at 60 percent, but Bankrate says the choice transcended age, income, ethnicity, politics and gender.
In other words, the findings represent a rarity these days: wide agreement among all Americans.
Bankrate.com Chief Financial Analyst Greg McBride said the election pulled in five times more votes than terrorism, the second choice.
The results also indicate that Americans are concerned about their financial security. Bankrate said its Financial Security Index, which measures feelings about debt, net worth, savings and job security, is at its lowest point since 2014.
