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2021-05-15 Home Front: Politix
Biden's Blast from the Past — The Return of the Misery Index
[AMERICANTHINKER] This week has the distinct smell of Democrats in charge. We have gas lines again, more cars waiting to fill up their gas tanks than ever waiting to hear candidate Joe The Big Guy Biden
...46th president of the U.S. Sleazy Dem mschine politician, paterfamilias of the Biden Crime Family...
speak at his sparsely attended campaign car rallies.

War is breaking out in the Middle East with Paleostinian bully boyz lobbing missiles at Israel, and Israel appropriately responding to attacks on its homeland. I wonder if Obama’s "pallets of cash" paid for any Hamas, the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood, missiles? Or if the planned restoration of $235 million in US aid to the Paleostinians has freed up cash for missiles?

Inflation and unemployment are both rising. It’s like traveling back in time to the late 1970s, dancing to the Bee Gees’ "Stayin Alive" under a mirror disco ball. But now it’s 2021 and we are dancing to Biden’s fiddle.

The rhyme these days is something older readers may remember, the "Misery Index". One can hearken back to the days of President Jimmy Malaise Carter
...only the second worst president ever...
, the former peanut farmer turned US President, from 1976 to 1980, before Ronald Reagan taught America what conservatism was and could offer not only to America but the world.

The "Misery Index" is an economic indicator created by economist Arthur Okun to provide a simple numeric measure of how the average Joe or Jane is doing economically. It is rather simple to calculate, without need of an advanced economics degree or proficiency in differential equations.

As a measure of overall hardship in the economy, or a way to quantitate discomfort, pain, or misery, depending on what the actual number is, it can be calculated quite easily.

It is the sum of the current seasonally adjusted unemployment plus the current inflation rate. One does not even need a calculator assuming one has a basic knowledge of arithmetic. Unless of course, one subscribes to CNN
...formerly the Cable News Network, now who knows what it might stand for...
’s "Math is racist" premise, in which case Don Lemon or Brian Stelter will need to review the simple calculation, not for accuracy but for wokeness.

Jimmy Carter used the misery index in his 1976 presidential campaign against incumbent Gerald Ford since at the time there was no FISA court to authorize illegal spying on presidential candidates. In January 1975, almost two years before the election, the misery index was a whopping 19.9%.

It dropped below 15% ahead of the election, but still made for a great campaign issue for Carter to use against Ford. Carter won the election and instead of lowering the misery index, he allowed karma to bite him hard. Ford almost hit 20% during his administration, but Carter said, "Hold my beer" and jacked it up to almost 22% in June 1980, just months before Ronald Reagan sent Carter back to Georgia.

Posted by Fred 2021-05-15 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ]  Top

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