Are Americans Stupid?

That's what CNBC's coverage of the failure of the bailout seems to be trying to tell us. Analyst after analyst, sprinkled in with a few hosts, is saying that the average American doesn't understand the ramifications of pressuring their congressmen to vote against the bailout package.

For their part, according to Gallup, Americans do support some form of government action, just not the one that was up for vote. But it certainly feels like there is something else going on here too. First, here's what Scott McDonald of Aladdin Capital told Reuters:

What most people on Main Street don't understand is the very strong nature of interconnectiveness that comes from where they put their savings, who manages their pension funds, what is in their pensions funds, and access to credit, be it for auto loans, mortgages or small business. Sadly the desire to punish the fat cats can include a lot of self-inflicted wounds.

But perhaps the misunderstanding goes both ways. As I pointed out here, finance has grown significantly in importance over the last two decades, resulting in tremendous income growth for a select few. It's true that with this growth came great enhancements in efficiency, but perhaps it went too far.

Meanwhile, over the same time period wages of most Americans largely stagnated. Even if benefit increases accounted for the stagnation, as Harvard's Martin Feldstein argues, the disparity in growth still leaves a bitter taste in many mouths.

And that's what Wall St. might want to open itself up to. Instead of looking on in shock over Congress's failure to get the package passed, Wall St. needs to understand, and react to, the fact that the response of most Americans to this bailout could be telling us that for that Average Joe, there isn't a large distinction between "stagnation" and "recession".

And until the incentives to change that point of view -- which can really only be voiced during an election season -- are created, there's little reason to expect America to get overly concerned about the pains being felt most on Wall St.

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