[cake_crumb]

The misery index was invented by Carter, dear.

[green iguana]

You’re clueless. An economist invented the misery index, not a peanut farmer. Carter was too dumb to invent anything but he did use it to criticize Ford.

Reagan popularized it by slamming Carter with it incessantly.

[XR7]

The US Misery Index
http://www.miseryindex.us/

Misery Index (9.01) = Unemployment rate (4.7) + Inflation rate (4.31)

The misery index was initiated by economist Arthur Okun, an adviser to President Lyndon Johnson in the 1970's. It is simply the unemployment rate added to the inflation rate. It is assumed that both a higher rate of unemployment and a worsening of inflation both create economic and social costs for a country. A combination of rising inflation and more people of out of work implies a deterioration in economic performance and a rise in the misery index.