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The misery index is an economic indicator
Economic indicator

An economic indicator is a statistic about the Economics. Economic indicators allow analysis of economic performance and predictions of future performance....
, created by economist Arthur Okun, and found by adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate
Inflation rate

In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of inflation, the rate of increase of a price index .It is the percentage rate of change in price level overtime....
. It is assumed that both a higher rate of unemployment and a worsening of inflation
Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. The term "inflation" once referred to increases in the money supply ; however, economic debates about the relationship between money supply and price levels have led to its primary use today in describing price inflatio...
 create economic and social costs for a country. It is often incorrectly attributed to Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
 economist
Economist

An economist is an expert in the social science of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy....
 Robert Barro
Robert Barro

Robert Joseph Barro is an United States classical liberal macroeconomist and the Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He is among the most influential economists in the world according to RePEc....
 in the 1970s, due to the Barro Misery Index that additionally includes GDP
Gross domestic product

File:GDP nominal per capita world map IMF 2008.pngThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy....
 and the bank rate
Bank rate

Bank rate, also referred to as the discount rate, is the Interest rate which a central bank charges on the loans and advances that it extends to commercial banks and other financial intermediaries....
.

During the Presidential campaign of 1976, Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major party contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party . It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world....
 candidate Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize....
 made frequent references to the Misery Index, which by the summer of 1976 was at 13.57%.






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Encyclopedia


The misery index is an economic indicator
Economic indicator

An economic indicator is a statistic about the Economics. Economic indicators allow analysis of economic performance and predictions of future performance....
, created by economist Arthur Okun, and found by adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate
Inflation rate

In economics, the inflation rate is a measure of inflation, the rate of increase of a price index .It is the percentage rate of change in price level overtime....
. It is assumed that both a higher rate of unemployment and a worsening of inflation
Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. The term "inflation" once referred to increases in the money supply ; however, economic debates about the relationship between money supply and price levels have led to its primary use today in describing price inflatio...
 create economic and social costs for a country. It is often incorrectly attributed to Chicago
Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
 economist
Economist

An economist is an expert in the social science of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy....
 Robert Barro
Robert Barro

Robert Joseph Barro is an United States classical liberal macroeconomist and the Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics at Harvard University. He is among the most influential economists in the world according to RePEc....
 in the 1970s, due to the Barro Misery Index that additionally includes GDP
Gross domestic product

File:GDP nominal per capita world map IMF 2008.pngThe gross domestic product or gross domestic income is one of the measures of national income and output for a given country's economy....
 and the bank rate
Bank rate

Bank rate, also referred to as the discount rate, is the Interest rate which a central bank charges on the loans and advances that it extends to commercial banks and other financial intermediaries....
.

During the Presidential campaign of 1976, Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major party contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party . It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world....
 candidate Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize....
 made frequent references to the Misery Index, which by the summer of 1976 was at 13.57%. Carter stated that no man responsible for giving a country a misery index that high had a right to even ask to be President. Carter won the 1976 election. However, by 1980, when President Carter was running for re-election against Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
, the Misery Index had reached an all-time high of 21.98%. Carter lost the election to Reagan.

U.S. misery index


Misery index - era by U.S president

Index = Unemployment rate + Inflation rate
Rank President Time Period Index Average Low High
5 Harry Truman 1948–1952 7.87 Dec 1952 = 3.45Jan 1948 = 13.63
1 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Dwight David ?Ike? Eisenhower was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a General of the Army in the United States Army....
 		 1953–1960 6.26 Jul 1953 = 2.97Apr 1958 = 10.98
3 John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1961 until John F....
 		 1961–1962 7.27 Jul 1962 = 6.40Jul 1961 = 8.38
2 Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States ....
 		 1963–1968 6.78 Nov 1965 = 5.70Jul 1968 = 8.19
7 Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the only president to resign the office....
 		 1969–1973 9.98 Jan 1968 = 7.80Dec 1973 = 13.61
10 Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974....
 		 1974–1976 15.93 Dec 1976 = 12.66Jan 1975 = 19.90
11 Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize....
 		 1977–1980 16.27 Apr 1978 = 12.60 Jun 1980 = 21.98
9 Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States and the 33rd Governor of California . Born in Illinois, Reagan moved to Los Angeles, California in the 1930s, where he was an actor, president of the Screen Actors Guild , and a spokesman for General Electric ....
 		 1981–1988 12.19 Dec 1986 = 7.70Sep 1981 = 19.33
8 George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush

George Herbert Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1989 to 1993. Bush held a variety of political positions prior to his presidency, including Vice President of the United States in the administration of Ronald Reagan and Director of Central Intelligence under Gerald R....
 		 1989–1992 10.68 Sep 1989 = 9.64Nov 1990 = 12.47
4 Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
 		 1993–2000 7.80 Apr 1998 = 5.74Jan 1993 = 10.56
6 George W. Bush
George W. Bush

George Walker Bush served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He was the 46th List of Governors of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before being United States presidential inauguration as President on January 20, 2001....
 		 2001 - 2008 8.10 Oct 2006 = 5.71Aug 2008 = 11.47


Misery and crime


Some economists posit that the components of the Misery Index drive the crime rate to a degree. They have found that the Misery Index and the Crime Rate correlate strongly and that the Misery Index seems to lead the Crime Rate by a year or so.

Data sources


The data for the misery index is obtained from unemployment
Unemployment

File:World map of countries by rate of unemployment.pngUnemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work, but the person is without Wage labour....
 data published by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Inflation Rate
Inflation

In economics, inflation is a rise in the general price level of goods and services in an economy over a period of time. The term "inflation" once referred to increases in the money supply ; however, economic debates about the relationship between money supply and price levels have led to its primary use today in describing price inflatio...
 from . The exact methods used for measuring unemployment and inflation have changed over time.

Related indexes


The Despondency Index
Bureau of Inverse Technology

The Bureau of Inverse Technology is an organisation of artist-engineers whose stated aim is to be an "". Bureau engineers, so-called BIT agents, are involved from design to deployment and documentation of radical products based on commercially available electronic entertainment components such as cameras, radios, computer network, robo...
, developed by the Bureau of Inverse Technology
Bureau of Inverse Technology

The Bureau of Inverse Technology is an organisation of artist-engineers whose stated aim is to be an "". Bureau engineers, so-called BIT agents, are involved from design to deployment and documentation of radical products based on commercially available electronic entertainment components such as cameras, radios, computer network, robo...
, correlates, in real time, the suicide rate measured with the Suicide Box
Bureau of Inverse Technology

The Bureau of Inverse Technology is an organisation of artist-engineers whose stated aim is to be an "". Bureau engineers, so-called BIT agents, are involved from design to deployment and documentation of radical products based on commercially available electronic entertainment components such as cameras, radios, computer network, robo...
 at the Golden Gate Bridge, to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

External links