To no one’s great surprise, it turns out that most Americans have a dim view at the moment of the agency whose job it is to provide the nation with a stable monetary and financial system. Only 30 percent of those surveyed by Gallup this month rated the job the Federal Reserve Board is doing an “excellent” or “good.”

While this could be a clear sign that the general public dislikes the policies of chairman Ben Bernanke, many analysts credit Bernanke’s unconventional approach for helping avert complete disaster even while his support of taxpayer bailouts of the big financial firms has upset many lawmakers.

It is more likely that survey respondents were expressing general unhappiness with the country’s economic climate. Six years ago when Americans were feeling more flush after surviving the 2001 recession and terror attacks, the numbers were virtually reversed, with 53 percent giving the Alan Greenspan-led Fed high marks.

The Food and Drug Administration was included in the Gallup survey for the first time and the results were not pretty. Just 38 percent thought the FDA was doing good or excellent work. Interestingly, the FDA received the fewest number of responses of “no opinion,” suggesting the high visibility of the agency that is responsible for protecting our food supply.

The survey is not all bad news for federal agencies. Three agencies received top marks from a majority of those surveyed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, who has been in the public eye during the swine flu outbreak, was rated highly by 61 percent.

Close behind are the space agency NASA and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, both rated excellent or good by 58 percent.

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