DAVOS: People are turning more pessimistic about the outlook for the global economy and are increasingly concerned about security, a survey for the World Economic Forum (WEF) showed Thursday.
Some 36 percent of those questioned for the WEF by pollster Gallup International said they expected future generations to have a lower standard of living than today, against 33 percent who saw an improvement.
Gallup talked to some 61,600 people in 60 countries between October and December.
Asked whether the next generation would live in a safer world, 48 percent said No, the same figure as an identical survey in 2006. Twenty-fine percent said Yes, down from 26 percent in 2006.
Those in Western countries were the most pessimistic. In Western Europe, 54 percent of those surveyed felt the future would be less prosperous alongside 43 percent of Americans.
On security, 69 percent in Europe and 61 percent in the United States said the situation would be worse than today.
The most optimistic on the economic outlook were Africans, with 71 percent positive on the economy.
The survey, entitled Voice of the People, was published ahead of next week s WEF gathering which will be attended by 2,500 delegates ranging from of heads of government and state, business figures, academics and journalists.
Respondents had a very negative image of political leaders, with 60 percent saying there were untrustworthy, up from 43 percent in the 2006 survey, while 43 percent were critical of business figures.
Politicians were judged to be incompetent by 41 percent compared with 23 percent on the same charge for business leaders.
Only eight percent said they had confidence in politicians, compared with 27 percent for religious leaders and 16 percent for journalists.
As for global priorities, 14 percent said political leaders should put the elimination of poverty first, with economic growth and stopping conflict each on 13 percent, the war on terrorism got 12 percent and environmental protection 11 percent. -AFP
