The Misery Index Could Bode well for Biden

The Misery Index might be the simplest measure of how Americans feel about the economy. It is the sum of the unemployment rate and inflation. If either unemployment or inflation is high - particularly if both are high - Americans are unhappy.

Fair or not, attitudes towards the president go up when the misery index goes down and go down when this misery index goes up. Americans were angry with Carter in no small part because inflation and unemployment rose so much during his presidency and were happy with Reagan because they dropped so much during his.

No president's term ended with as low a misery index as Biden now has. This should - but won't necessarily - translate into higher approval ratings for Biden.

Of course feelings are complicated - particularly when it comes to misery - as Morrisey knew.

"I was looking for a job, and then I found a job

And heaven knows I'm miserable now"

- The Smiths, song released in 1984 when the misery index 

was high and the youths were particularly disenchanted, you might even say, miserable.