The impact of global financial downturn is observed alike in developing and developed countries. But who is to be blamed for current economic problems? Nations around the world differ on this count. The US-based think tank Pew Research Center says in its latest survey that a staggering 92 percent of Indians blame their government for the financial mess. “Only 17 percent Indians found banks and other financial institutions as culprit for the poor performances of its economies,” says the 57-page research titled ‘Pervasive Gloom about the World Economy’.

India is behind its neighbour Pakistan where 95 percent people blamed the government while 10 percent blamed banks and other financial institutions for the economic crisis. According to the research, the Mexicans (91 percent), the Japanese (91 percent), the Czechs (91 percent) and the Poles (90 percent) were overwhelmingly angry against the government.

However, there is a striking contrast. In Spain, which is reeling under a severe economic crisis, 78 percent people blamed banks and financial institutions while 59 percent found fault with the government. “Banks and financial institutions were frequently – in Spain (78 percent), France (74 percent) and Germany (74 percent) – seen as the culprit behind the poor performance of national economies. And in two instances – France and Spain – significantly more of the public blamed the banks than blamed the government,” adds the PEW report.

In India, people are also not satisfied with the direction that the politicians have taken in response to the economic hardship. Only 38 percent people are satisfied with the way things are moving in the country. It is down by 13 points in India, while in 2011, 51 percent of people were happy about the way government was steering the economy, the report pointed out. “Notably, only in China have people been relatively positive through most of the last decade,” the survey report says.

Notwithstanding the slump, 45 percent Indians see a better economy on the horizon in coming years. People are also in better economic conditions where there is high growth. “50 percent of Indians say they are better off when the country averaged 8.1 percent growth after 2007,” says the report.

Faith in capitalism is the greatest victim, according to the report, but 61 percent Indians are supportive of the free market. It also said that rich are particularly upbeat about India. “By a margin of 25 percentage points, high-income Indians are more satisfied than low-income Indians with their personal economic situation,” the study notes.

The research work is based on field survey conducted in 14 states and Delhi during April.

Read the research