william the wie
Gold Member
- Nov 18, 2009
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Unemployment (similar to the definition used now but very slightly higher) + Inflation (a lot higher than now) = the misery index invented by Jimmy Carter in the 1976 campaign.
This rule really does work quite well. Presidents or other national politicians, presumably with exceptions, generally do not get reelected if the misery index increases on their watch. Also propensity to vote correlates highly with the age of the voter. Both of these rules seem to work worldwide.
With the more or less permanent campaign platforms of the two parties pretty much set in stone: Ds inflate! inflate!; Rs seem determined to increase the misery index as the voter ages and becomes more likely to vote. So, the US is likely to see a lot of wild swings until platforms that are both Economically and Politically sane get worked out. However the whole world has this problem and the US has it about the least bad.
So what happens to the economy when wild swings become the norm worldwide?
This rule really does work quite well. Presidents or other national politicians, presumably with exceptions, generally do not get reelected if the misery index increases on their watch. Also propensity to vote correlates highly with the age of the voter. Both of these rules seem to work worldwide.
With the more or less permanent campaign platforms of the two parties pretty much set in stone: Ds inflate! inflate!; Rs seem determined to increase the misery index as the voter ages and becomes more likely to vote. So, the US is likely to see a lot of wild swings until platforms that are both Economically and Politically sane get worked out. However the whole world has this problem and the US has it about the least bad.
So what happens to the economy when wild swings become the norm worldwide?