And heaven knows I'm miserable now"
- Morrisey and the Smiths
The misery index is the sum of the unemployment rate and the rate of inflation - either of which is enough to make us anxious but combined have the potential to make us miserable.
The causes of changes in the misery index are a mix of chance and choice, influenced by faraway countries and the distant past as well as actions and utterances by incumbents in the last month.
The causes of changes in the misery index are a mix of chance and choice, influenced by faraway countries and the distant past as well as actions and utterances by incumbents in the last month.
The causes are complex but the effect is simple. The misery index changes how we Americans feel toward incumbents.
Joe Biden would like you to focus on the unemployment rate. The last time it was lower was during the Korean War. (How long ago was that? The Korean War was fought by the great grandparents of your favorite Korean boy bands.)
Republicans would like you to focus on inflation. Even though it has come down quite a lot in the last 7 months, it is still higher than it was at any time between 1990 and 2020.
The misery index during Biden's presidency never got as high as it did during Obama or Trump's presidency but the average has been its worst since Reagan's presidency. The misery index has risen the most under Biden than it has for any president since Carter. Given inflation, we Americans are still miserable.
If Powell manages to bring inflation back down to 2% without a big bump in unemployment, though, Biden could preside over the second biggest drop in the misery index since FDR. Halfway through his 4 year term, he has done half the job needed to make us less miserable.
The misery index during Biden's presidency never got as high as it did during Obama or Trump's presidency but the average has been its worst since Reagan's presidency. The misery index has risen the most under Biden than it has for any president since Carter. Given inflation, we Americans are still miserable.
If Powell manages to bring inflation back down to 2% without a big bump in unemployment, though, Biden could preside over the second biggest drop in the misery index since FDR. Halfway through his 4 year term, he has done half the job needed to make us less miserable.
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