Biden misery index on rise as Americans pessimistic about country’s future

“…Created by the late economist Arthur Okun, the misery index became widely known in the 1970s and early 1980s during the presidencies of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. It adds together two measures of economic pain — the unemployment rate and inflation for consumers — to give a sense of the economic distress felt by everyday Americans.

The index hit 11% in November and December and reached 11.5% last month — higher than any month in 2008 when the Great Recession began and just behind its highest levels in late 2009 and early 2010 when unemployment was around 10%. The current level is the highest in a decade, not including the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economists don’t consider the misery index a sophisticated metric but say it’s a useful tool…”

It’s just messaging. Democrats need to rename the Misery Index and convince Americans the bad numbers are really good numbers.