Pessimism in America + Other Headlines

Tuesday Digest (01.07.25)

Americans are not hopeful about 2025

Since 1960, Gallup has started the new year asking Americans for the predictions about the coming months. For 2025, this new Gallup poll found that Americans are feeling negative about the state of the world, viewing 2025 as a year of significant challenges, with only a few reasons for optimism.

On the hopeful side, around 66 percent of adults expect the stock market to rise in 2025. A majority of survey respondents also expect employment to increase. But that’s where the optimism ends:

Americans foresee a somewhat challenging year ahead for the country, based on their predictions for various aspects of U.S. affairs and daily life. Majorities of U.S. adults think 2025 will be a year of political conflict, economic difficulty, international discord, increasing power for China and Russia, and a rising federal budget deficit.

Interestingly, those with more hopeful attitudes tend to be Republicans.