misery index
noun
: the sum of the rate of unemployment and the rate of inflation used as an economic indicator
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Cincinnati won 6-4 on Saturday afternoon, sending the Rockies to their fifth consecutive loss and dropping their season misery index to 4-22.
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Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2025
The idea of a misery index was fathered by Arthur Okun, a distinguished economist who served as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1968 to 1969 during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration.
—Steve H. Hanke, National Review, 27 Feb. 2025
Okun’s misery index was modified by Harvard professor Robert Barro in 1996, by including the 30-year government-bond yield and the difference between the long-term-trend rate of real GDP growth and the actual rate of real GDP growth.
—Steve H. Hanke, National Review, 27 Feb. 2025
Currently, the misery index stands at 6.5%, below its 9.1% average since 1947.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 30 Oct. 2024
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Patrick Saunders, Denver Post, 26 Apr. 2025
The idea of a misery index was fathered by Arthur Okun, a distinguished economist who served as chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers from 1968 to 1969 during President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration.
—Steve H. Hanke, National Review, 27 Feb. 2025
Okun’s misery index was modified by Harvard professor Robert Barro in 1996, by including the 30-year government-bond yield and the difference between the long-term-trend rate of real GDP growth and the actual rate of real GDP growth.
—Steve H. Hanke, National Review, 27 Feb. 2025
Currently, the misery index stands at 6.5%, below its 9.1% average since 1947.
—Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 30 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for misery index
Cite this Entry
“Misery index.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misery%20index. Accessed 21 May. 2025.
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