Americans Grow Gloomy About Future

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A third of the country views Bernanke favorably, down from 41 percent in September.

Bernanke's standing fell even though the Fed as an institution improved, with 50 percent holding a favorable opinion versus 44 percent three months ago.

Four out of 10 respondents have no opinion on either Geithner or Bernanke.

Some of the malaise may stem from middle-class households bracing for the expectation of greater burdens ahead, says J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer & Co. Almost 9 in 10 poll respondents say they believe middle-class Americans will have to make sacrifices to decrease the deficit.

'We're Under Water'

When asked about changes in measures of personal economic well-being—household income, job security, quality of health care, retirement savings and home equity—the responses changed little from September. Only 1 in 3 Americans indicated an improvement in any category.

For many consumers, that uneasiness means a shorter Christmas shopping list.

Cindy Gamet, 54, an environmental project manager who lives in Greeley, Colorado, says her family's prolonged encounter with financial insecurity is leading her to cut back further this holiday season.

"The economy has been on the decline for some time," Gamet says. "Our major investment, which was our home, it went south. So now we're under water."

'We're Spenders'

Though it goes against her inclination—"we're spenders," Gamet says—she and her husband plan to limit gifts for their grandchildren and forgo presents to their adult children.

"We're going to do what we can for the kids, but the adults are just going to have to understand," Gamet says.

Just 8 percent of people plan to spend more on gifts this year than they did last year, while 47 percent say they will spend less.

The country is especially leery of taking on new debt for the holidays, with 82 percent of respondents saying they plan to pay for Christmas gifts solely from cash on hand or savings.

The Grinch may even have come to the Internet, where commerce has been shifting in recent years. Only a quarter of respondents—27 percent—say they will buy more gifts over the Web this year, while 42 percent say they will buy fewer and 22 percent say they will buy nothing at all.

To contact the reporters on this story: Mike Dorning in Washington at mdorning@bloomberg.net; Rebecca Christie in Washington at rchristie4@bloomberg.net.