Bloggers See Gloomy Outlook For U.S. Economy, According To New Kauffman Survey

According to the Kauffman Economic Outlook, a new survey of economics bloggers, web pundits' attitude toward the U.S. economy is markedly sober, with nearly half of the respondents (48 percent) agreeing that the economy is "worse than official government statistics show."

In the first of its new quarterly surveys, the Kauffman Foundation found that only 7 percent of economics bloggers said they believed the economy was "strong," versus 33 percent who answered that it was "facing recession" or "weak and recessing"; the remainder of the surveyed bloggers said the was economy "mixed."

Interestingly, the bloggers were generally in favor of a more hands-off approach to economic policy. While the respondents were relatively mixed in terms of political affiliation, there was strong agreement among them that the government should intervene less, with 71 percent saying that the government was "too involved in the economy." And only a sliver (9 percent) said business should be more regulated.

Kauffman, the Missouri-based, entrepreneurship-focused foundation, designed the survey in conjunction with an advisory panel that included Grasping Reality's Brad DeLong, Allison Schrager of FreeExchange and Yves Smith from Naked Capitalism. The foundation, which administered the study in mid-January of this year, invited responses from more than 200 leading economics bloggers.

Tim Kane, a senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation and the study's author, explained that the survey targeted economics bloggers for their "unique voice" and "potentially profound influence." It's the foundation's view, he said, that "their collective voice needs to be heard."

Check out some of the charts from the Kauffman Economic Outlook's First Quarter 2010 report below: