The Angry American

Esquire and NBC News teamed up to take the American public's temperature. As the magazine put it, "We the people are pissed. The body politic is burning up."

The whole thing is worth reading. But here are some highlights:

• Half of all Americans are angrier today than they were a year ago.
• White Americans are angrier than any other group.
• 73% of whites say the news makes them angry at least once a day, compared with 66% of Hispanics and 56% of blacks .
• The level of women's anger has increased more than men's.
• Black Americans are more optimistic than whites.
• Whites are more likely than blacks to say their financial situation today isn't what they thought it would be when they were younger.
• Republicans are most angry about the dysfunctional Congress (84%).
• Democrats are most angry about policemen killing unarmed black man (80%).

I think these results help explain the poll results in the Republican primary, as well as Bernie Sanders' unexpected showing on the Democratic side.

Additionally, some of the survey results concerning the economy have major implications for businesses of all sizes:

• Only about a third (35%) say they make enough to save and buy some extras.
• About one out of five (18%) say they don't make enough to pay all their bills.
• 74% believe the gap between rich and poor is getting worse and many blame banks and financial institutions (18%), capitalism in general (17%), and globalization/jobs going overseas (17%).