Misery Index as Political Thermometer

The misery index — unemployment plus inflation — functioned less as a neutral statistic and more as a political instrument that compressed two distinct problems into a single public‑facing score, shaping voters' perceptions and pressuring policymakers. The 1970s oil shock exposed how such composite metrics can mislead decisions when novel external shocks break the assumptions behind them. — If simple composite metrics can steer political debate and constrain policy, then debates about which public indicators we rely on (and how they’re communicated) are consequential for democratic accountability and economic resilience.