Majority say U.S. economic system favor powerful, wealthy ones

The majority of Americans believe that the nation's economic system is tilted toward the powerful interests and policies implemented since the start of the recession favor the wealthy instead of the middle class and the poor, a nationwide survey said recently.

According to the survey by the Pew Research Center, 62 percent of Americans say the current U.S. economic system unfairly favors powerful interests, while only 33 percent believe the system is fair to most Americans.

Fully 72 percent of Americans across all demographic groups say government policies since the start of the recession have helped large banks and financial institutions at least a fair amount, while the percentage for small businesses is only 29 percent. Two- thirds also say large companies have been benefited.

In general, 72 percent say the policies implemented after the 2008 recession have done little or nothing to help middle class people, and 65 percent say little or no help has been offered to the poor.

The survey, conducted between Feb. 18-22 among 1,504 adults, also found out that most Americans continue to think that the country's economic system is still vulnerable to the type of economic crisis that devastated U.S. economy in 2008. Endite