Prompt Cast
The Misery Index: Measuring the Relationship Between Unemployment and GDP
TLDR The Misery Index is a tool that measures the relationship between unemployment and the gross national product, and it has been expanded upon by economists to include additional measurements such as inflation rate, unemployment rate, government bond yield, and GDP growth rate to provide a more comprehensive picture of economic conditions and the effectiveness of a president's economic policies.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Chuck introduces the topic of the Misery Index and mentions that it is a podcast episode from June 23rd, 2016.
05:18
The Misery Index is a tool that measures the relationship between unemployment and the gross national product, and was initially developed by Arthur Oaken, who worked on Kennedy's staff and convinced him to enact both conservative and liberal economic policies simultaneously.
10:33
Oaken's law, which states that a decrease in unemployment leads to an increase in GDP, was verified and became a useful tool for economic policy-making.
15:34
In 1973, the Arab oil embargo caused a shock to the US economy, leading to high inflation and unemployment rates, which was referred to as stagflation.
20:48
The misery index, which measures the combination of inflation and unemployment rates, can be used to predict whether a presidency will change hands politically based on how the economy is doing.
25:36
The misery index reached an all-time high during Jimmy Carter's term, but it is unclear how much influence a president actually has on the economy and how long it takes for their impact to be felt.
30:35
The misery index didn't accurately reflect the state of the economy during the Bush Jr. and Obama administrations, leading to criticism and calls for improvement.
35:25
The misery index has been expanded upon by economists to include additional measurements such as inflation rate, unemployment rate, government bond yield, and GDP growth rate to provide a more comprehensive picture of economic conditions and the effectiveness of a president's economic policies.
40:22
The HuffPo real misery index includes measurements such as U6 unemployment statistics, inflation rates of essential goods, credit card delinquency rates, housing costs, and food stamp usage.
45:22
The HuffPo real misery index pointed out the flaw in the initial misery index by adding together various measurements without considering their weight, and a 2001 paper found that unemployment causes 1.7 times more misery than inflation based on a survey of life satisfaction and happiness.
50:08
The speaker discusses their experience with a mental disorder called Miesophonia and how it has negatively impacted their life, particularly their relationships and ability to learn.
Categories:
Society & Culture
