In this week’s JZS Newsletter we report on:

1) Results From A John Zogby Strategies/ESCA Survey Tracking Economic Anxiety

2) Meet the Neo-Tribe, “Go With The Flow”

3) Trump’s Latest Weekly Report Card


 

1) Results From A John Zogby Strategies/ESCA Survey Tracking Economic Anxiety

At a Time of Growing Economic Anxiety, New John Zogby Strategies Survey Finds ESOP Workers Are Less Worried, More Optimistic

Washington, D.C. – Today, John Zogby Strategies released a new poll that finds employees who work at private, employee-owned companies are more confident about their jobs and less anxious about their financial futures than other workers.

The poll, commissioned by the Employee-Owned S Corporations of America (ESCA), underscores a key benefit of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs), which economic research has shown provide more retirement savings, higher wages, and job stability for workers across industries. The survey also finds these employee-owners worry far less about being able to cover expenses – like mortgage and rent payments, student loan costs or other unexpected bills – than American workers overall.

“The data is clear and compelling: employee-owners see and feel the benefits of their ownership interests, and that makes them far more confident in their jobs and financial futures than the rest of us,” said John Zogby. “It’s striking that across the board, whether it’s job security, paying for school or a mortgage, or just feeling they can advance financially, employee-owners are simply more confident than others,” he added.

Key findings of the survey, which was benchmarked against an October 2016 Marketplace- Edison Research “Economic Anxiety Poll” to establish a clear comparison, include:

  • Employees at ESOP companies feel more financially secure and less anxious than do other U.S. workers. Twenty-six (26) percent of people surveyed report feeling financially insecure compared to just 18 percent of employee-owners.
  • ESOP employees say they’re better prepared to cover life’s ordinary and unexpected expenses than do other workers. Only 4 percent of employee-owners claim they are seriously concerned about making rent payments, compared to 38 percent of non-ESOP workers. Likewise, employee-owners are more than 57 percent less likely than their peers to have serious concerns about paying unexpected medical bills.
  • Employee-owners’ worries about retirement are less intense than other American workers’ anxieties. Employee-owners are 30 percent less likely to claim they worry “a lot” about their retirement than do other workers.
  • ESOP employees are far more confident about keeping their jobs than other workers are. 55 percent of employee-owners report they have no worry of losing their jobs, while only 44 percent of other workers have the same confidence.
  • Over the past 12 months, employees at private ESOP companies were more than twice as likely to believe their financial outlook had improved compared to the overall workforce. Two-thirds of ESOP workers consider their personal financial situation better than a year ago, compared to only 30 percent of workers in other companies.

Coming Soon: Who’s Your Tribe?  The only app you’ll need to discover your Neo-Tribe.


 

2) Meet the Neo-Tribe “Go With The Flow”

By John Zogby

  •  This is one of the largest tribes and members told us that above all they strive for balance, moderation, or Zen in their lives.
  •  Appropriately, they are almost evenly split between men and women — balance in every way.
  •  They seek out tribe members who are similarly inclined and define success in their lives as achieving the middle of the road with as little passion as possible.
  •  While other tribes have members who want to visit another planet, write the great American novel or star in a Hollywood movie, the Go With the Flow said that the one thing missing to complete their lives is to live within their means and stay in the middle of the pack.
  •  Their tribal bonds are strengthened at the simple things like a local sporting event.
  •  They talked a lot about making sure their family is cared for, being healthy, and not sweating the big stuff.

 

3) Zogby’s Weekly Report Card on Trump

From the Washington Examiner:

As the late Joan Rivers used to say, ‘Can we talk?’

The Trump presidency has not unraveled but it is indeed unraveling. It is one thing to thumb your nose at the Establishment and flout all the rules. Many Americans like rule breakers and outlaws, but we also expect some stability in our lives.

Let’s review: there are very serious allegations against the president and several top current and former aides about relationships with Russia and Turkey, a summarily fired FBI Director James Comey who was leading that investigation, conflicts of interest between the Trump empire/family and China, the passage of health care legislation that only 17 percent of Americans support, a lack of clarity on foreign policy, and an already broken relationship between the White House and the GOP in Congress.

Mr. Trump has made little effort to build any kind of governing majority on anything. On the surface, the firing of Comey may not matter to independents outside of the Beltway, but the fact that there is a different rationale every day and there are broken promises by someone who promised to be a fixer does matter.

Grade: F


 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post comment