Misery Index: Bidenflation Remains Sky-High, And Americans Aren't Fooled

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

In spite of Joe Biden’s continued delusional pronouncements that “the economy is just fine, man,” most Americans are feeling the detrimental effects of his economic policies with every purchase from the gas pump to the grocery store and beyond.

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Each month since the 1970s, economists have used the newly released and updated Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) data to quantify the economic health of the country. To do so, they add the current U.S. unemployment rate, which is a semi-stagnant 3.7%, to August’s worse-than-expected rate of U.S. inflation, which is a harsh 8.26%. Originally coined by intellectual powerhouse and policy economist Arthur M. Okun in the 1970s as the “discomfort index,” the sum of these two rates is now known simply as the U.S. Misery Index.

The current U.S. Misery Index stands at a crippling 11.96%. 

So what exactly does the Misery Index tell us? First, we know that the higher the inflation rate is, the higher the cost of living is as well. Second, as the unemployment numbers rise, more and more people fall into poverty. The Misery Index acts as a kind of snapshot in time that measures the health of the economy as a whole.

Both unemployment and inflation significantly impact the average American wage earner’s spending power, so the Misery Index also gauges the negative impact Bidenflation has on the quality of American life. With inflation at still-record-high levels, it follows that as the Misery Index climbs, the quality of American life declines.

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According to the most recent news release from the BLS, however, inflation hasn’t hit just one or two price sectors of the economy: “Increases in the shelter, food, and medical care indexes were the largest of many contributors to the broad-based monthly all items increase…[while] the index for all items less food and energy rose 0.6 percent in August, a larger increase than in July.”

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In fact, “shelter, medical care, household furnishings and operations, new vehicles, motor vehicle insurance, and education”  increased across the board.

That’s the thing about inflation that Biden & Co. are either unwilling or incapable of admitting: because inflation is spread throughout the economy, it makes virtually everything more expensive. Americans living on the edge of poverty are now being flung head first into the abyss while the White House crassly gaslights a decrease in the cost of gasoline. Meanwhile, the administration conveniently fails to admit that its policies raised the price to begin with and that gasoline is still more than a dollar per gallon higher today than when Biden took office, meaning many Americans can’t afford to fill up at the pump in order to get to work, let alone the grocery store. Yes, the White House really thinks Americans are this stupid.

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Maybe AAA didn’t get the memo when it reported Thursday that after 98 straight days of so-called Biden-induced decline, “the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline increased by a penny to $3.68” due to “fluctuating oil prices and tight supply due to planned and unplanned maintenance work at refineries on the West Coast and Midwest contribute to rising pump prices.”

Ruh Roh, there goes The Narrative™ of the Biden-induced gas decreases. Surely the stock market has to be faring better under Biden, right? Not so much.

The reality in America consists of rising gas prices, a tanking stock market, climbing mortgage rates, and a much weaker dollar. Whether they admit it or not, we’re already in a recession and are barreling headlong towards a depression that’s fueled by the failed economic policies of the Democratic Party. If this is what Build Back Better actually means, count me out, Jack.

Remember the good ol’ days of just a few short years ago? The economy was humming even as the pandemic took hold. Now Bideninflation remains in the stratosphere, and the feds are considering raising interest rates yet again. Americans are tightening their belts in uncomfortable ways while our borders are wide open, crime is rising, and our kids are suffering from countless draconian Democratic policies.

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It seems pretty clear that both Biden and Bidenflation are disasters for the American family, no matter how they try to distract, gaslight, or deflect blame. November is coming, dear readers. Vote accordingly, and make sure your friends and family do as well.

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