Price controls

Another question from the Opinion Research Corporation:  "In normal times, do you think we can depend on competition to keep prices at fair levels, or is some sort of government control needed to keep prices fair?"

        Competition    Control   DK
1946       66%           30%     4%
1953       68%           27%     5%
1955       63%           32%     5%
1955       65%           30%     5%
1962       43%           43%    14%
1963       50%           38%    12%

That was the last time they asked about "normal times," but they later asked:  "Do you think we can depend on competition to keep prices at fair levels this year, or is some sort of government control needed to keep prices fair?"
 
        Competition    Control   DK

1971       27%           62%     11%
1974       26%           63%     11%

Between 27% and 43% of the public said that there should be price controls in "normal times," a proposition that would get almost zero support among policymakers and professional economists.  Clear majorities supported price control in 1971, and again in 1974 even though price controls had then been in effect for several years and hadn't been very effective in reducing inflation.  

Of course, it's possible that there would be less support for price controls today.  However, I think these results illustrate an important point about public opinion on economic policy:  it can't really be classified as liberal or conservative.  The best term might be "dirigiste":  people think that the government should be more active in regulating "bad" things, whether they involve companies raising prices or workers going on strike.