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Americans are starting to warm to the idea that there really is a New Economy. According to a just-released poll conducted for the centrist Democratic Leadership Council, 57% of Americans say they believe the country has entered a "new kind of economy" that is "significantly different from the industrial economy," while 37% say the economy is basically the same. What's more, most believers think that the economic changes are profound and permanent: 78% say the New Economy is affecting companies in many sectors, while just 19% say the changes are primarily in the high-tech fields.
A plurality of Americans think the brave new world of wireless communications, cross-border commerce, and higher productivity is a good thing. Seventy percent of those polled said the economy is on the right track, with just 23% dissenting. The most optimistic groups were "wired workers," defined by the poll as workers who use computers frequently and work in teams (80%), and Gen Xers, those aged 21-34 (79%).
While the public seems ready to embrace the economic future, most people say they're still not a part of it. Just 46% said they consider their jobs a part of the New Economy. The demographic group most likely to feel they are stuck in the Old Economy are women. While 52% of male workers consider their jobs to be part of the New Economy, only 40% of female workers felt they had New Economy jobs.
PARTY LINE.
The survey, conducted by Democratic pollster Mark Penn, found some partisan differences. While both parties felt that the New Economy would give them a better chance to succeed financially than their parents, Democrats were even more optimistic than Republicans. Overall, 89% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans said they would climb higher up the economic ladder than their parents. But Democrats also wanted to help those left behind: They were more likely than Republicans to say that it's important to protect traditional jobs even if it means slowing down innovation.
When it comes to the role of government, the traditional partisan divisions reemerge: Republicans say government should cut taxes to spur investment, while Democrats favor more spending on science, research, education, and job training. On the digital divide, Republicans are more willing to wait until computer prices fall enough to allow low-income workers to buy their own units. Democrats are more prepared to turn to government for help in wiring schools to the Internet and subsidizing computer purchases by the poor.
The poll of 500 registered voters, conducted on Mar. 27-29, has a margin of error of four percentage points.
Richard S. Dunham in Washington EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
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