The U.S. public as well Germany, France Spain, Italy and Britain are increasingly perceiving globalization as negative for them and their countries, a poll published by Harris Interactive said. The survey, released on July 23, showed that those polled in Britain, France, Spain and the U.S. were about three times more likely to say that globalization was having a negative impact on their countries than a positive impact.
In the survey of the U.S., Germany, France, Spain, Italy and Britain, only 5% or less of respondents in the U.S. and all the European countries, except Italy, said they had a great deal of admiration for those running large companies.
Nearly 80% of British respondents thought corporate executives made too much money, while 60% thought they should be taxed more and a similar proportion thought government should limit their pay.
Respondents in all six countries polled wanted their governments to raise levels of taxation on those with the highest incomes.
European respondents, meanwhile, overwhelmingly favored the principle of free competition within Europe, though French, German and Spanish residents wanted political leaders to be more involved in managing their economies.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
