People are not as happy as the misery index suggests. First devised by the late economist Arthur Okun, the misery index consists of the latest month’s unemployment rate added to the percentage change in consumer prices over the past year. The theory that underlies this construct is not difficult to discern: The higher the total of its two components — without regard to which component is responsible for the rise — the more miserable people are, hence the term misery index. Say what you want about its simplicity, it helped Ronald Reagan win the 1980 presidential election over the incumbent Jimmy Carter. In their ... (full story)