In this week’s Economist/YouGov poll:

Plus polling on the current political moment, Trump's IRS settlement, the economy, inflation, the price of gas, and interest rates.

  • 61% of Americans say the current moment is a significant turning point in American politics, while 18% say it's not too significant
  • 11% of Americans have heard a lot about Trump's "anti-weaponization fund" and settlement with the IRS; 20% have heard some about it, 23% a little, and 47% nothing at all
  • 16% of Americans say the economy is getting better, 57% say it's getting worse, and 20% say it's staying about the same
  • 46% of Americans say inflation is a bigger problem than unemployment today, while 4% say unemployment is a bigger problem, and 45% say both are equal problems
  • 70% of Americans say the price of gas has gone up a lot in the past 12 months, while 21% say it's gone up a little, 2% say it's not changed, and 3% say it's gone down a little or a lot
  • 18% of Americans say it would be very easy for them to pay an unexpected $1,000 expense, while 20% say this would be somewhat easy, 23% somewhat difficult, 22% very difficult, and 17% impossible
  • 46% of Americans want the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates; 8% think interest rates should be raised and 14% want no change

See the toplines and crosstabs for the July 31 - August 3, 2026 Economist/YouGov Poll

Methodology: The poll was conducted among 1,609 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov's opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. region, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent's most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 33% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3.6%.

Image: Getty

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