The Great Recession of the XXI Century that unfolded at the end of 2007 is a systemic crisis with a negative effect not only on the economy but most importantly on society and, lately, even on political stability. This current crisis is having a spillover effect on society who is experiencing a decrease in their living standard due to a combination of economic factors.
Most economic studies focus on the evolution of macroeconomic data such as GDP, labor costs, government deficits and debts, inflation, and others. However, there are no many indicators to measure how the economy is affecting society’s wellbeing.
This section is designed to measure how the economy is affecting society using the evolution of the MISERY INDEX. The economic adviser to President Lyndon Johnson, Arthur Okun, built in the 60's the so-called "Misery Index"— a combination of unemployment and inflation— that has been used as a sensitive index of social and economic progress of a country and a tool to understand changes in the purchasing power and living standards of society.
MLS Global Consulting is following and presenting the Misery Index of a number of countries whose index is followed for different reasons. The United States is in the middle of an election process and a Misery Index slightly above 10% will surround President Obama’s re-election with uncertainty. In Spain, the Misery Index is on the rise and following this index explains the social stress felt in the country. Finally, MLS Global Consulting is proud of presenting the Misery Index for the Eurozone and the PIIGS countries.
MLS Global Consulting truly hopes this study will be of your liking.
Technical note: The Misery Index for the US can be found with other perspective at www.miseryindex.us; however, the graph presented here is custom-made with data collected from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Misery Index for any other country presented here, particularly the Eurozone Misery Index and the PIIGS Misery Index, is also custom made by MLS GLOBAL CONSULTING. The data for the European countries has been obtained from the European Central Bank and the Eurostat.
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Misery Index for the USA by President Elected
El Indice de Miseria de los EEUU en base a los Presidentes Electos
El Misery Index de Espana por Presidente
The Misery Index por Spain is .... going up and up....
El Indice de Misery de Espana esta... subiendo y subiendo....
ANALISIS ESPECIAL PARA EL VERANO 2012 -- SPECIAL REPORT FOR SUMMER 2012
El Misery Index para los Paises FIESTA-SIESTA....
1. Espana tiene el dudoso honor de sufrir el Indice mas alto de todos los Fiesta Siesta...
2. La data para Grecia esta incompleta ya q en la misma base de datos no existia data para el desempleo entre 2000-2008.
This summer MLS is presenting the Misery Index for the PIIGS Countries ....
1. Spain has the highest Misery Index... A dobious Honor
2. Greece Misery Index is incomplete since it is missing the Unemployment rate from 2000 to 2008 not reported to the data base from which all data has been collected.
