FROM JEROME CORSI'S RED ALERT
Obama misery index
Now you can track administration's role in 'inherited economic mess'

Posted: June 05, 2009
12:00 am Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily



The Obama administration is certain to prolong and deepen the economic recession, with the result that unemployment and inflation will increase, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert contends.

Red Alert has announced plans to test this conclusion by tracking the Misery Index during the Obama administration.

Candidate Barack Obama charged President Bush with mismanagement of the economy, arguing that an Obama presidency would bring economic prosperity to the nation.

"Now, as president, Obama has repeatedly blamed the current economic recession on President Bush, alleging his administration 'inherited an economic mess' that will take years to resolve," Corsi wrote. "However, a close look at the table below shows that the Misery Index under President Obama is increasing, as unemployment edges close to 9 percent."



The Misery Index, created by economist Arthur Okun, is obtained by adding the unemployment rate to the inflation rate.

In 1976, while running for president, Democratic candidate Jimmy Carter used the Misery Index to argue that incumbent President Gerald Ford had not improved the economy.

Ironically, Corsi noted, the index came back to haunt Jimmy Carter's presidency.

As the table indicates, the Misery Index for the Carter presidency averaged 20.27, compared to 14.93 for President Ford.

For April, the last month for which data is available, unemployment is at 8.9 percent the rate of inflation is – 0.74 percent, resulting in a Misery Index of 8.16.

A close look at the table shows that presidents are ranked according to whether they raised or lowered the Misery Index during their terms in office.

If the Misery Index under President Obama reaches double-digit levels, he will join seven presidents since the end of World War II whose presidencies involved economic downturns – Presidents Truman, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton and George W. Bush.

Red Alert's author, whose books "The Obama Nation" and "Unfit for Command" have topped the New York Times best-sellers list, also noted Obama is in the smaller group of five previous post-war presidents under whose leadership the Misery Index increased – Presidents Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Carter and George H.W. Bush.

Corsi received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in political science in 1972. For nearly 25 years, beginning in 1981, he worked with banks throughout the U.S. and around the world to develop financial services marketing companies to assist banks in establishing broker/dealers and insurance subsidiaries to provide financial planning products and services to their retail customers. In this career, Corsi developed three different third-party financial services marketing firms that reached gross sales levels of $1 billion in annuities and equal volume in mutual funds. In 1999, he began developing Internet-based financial marketing firms, also adapted to work in conjunction with banks.

In his 25-year financial services career, Corsi has been a noted financial services speaker and writer, publishing three books and numerous articles in professional financial services journals and magazines.

For financial guidance during difficult times, read Jerome Corsi's Red Alert, the premium, online intelligence news source by the WND staff writer, columnist and author of the New York Times No. 1 best-seller, "The Obama Nation."

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