Kerry's campaign has invented a new "misery index" that makes Bush's economic record look, well, miserable. Why a new index? Perhaps because the classic "misery index" -- which adds together the unemployment rate and the rate of inflation -- currently is better than it's been in most years since World War II. In fact, it's less than half the miserable level reached in 1980, the last year of the Carter administration, and better than in any of Clinton's first four years: Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Annual Average Unemployment Rate + Percentage Change in Annual Average Consumer Price Index)Analysis The...
