More Bad News in Obama's Economy - Misery

The unemployment rate today jumped to 9.4%, up half a percentage point from just last month. This means nearly three quarter million jobs were lost just last month under the Obama/Geithner/Bernake recession. Timmah!!

As a result of this news (which the White House and the MSM is spinning as "good"), interest rates have jumped up 1/4 point ahead of the market open, and oil prices increased by $7 per barrel.

This is what happens when governments overspend in a recession -- the recession continues unabated, and the government's printing money adds inflation to the mix.

Jimmy Carter is back at the helm of the nation's economy. Jimmy Carter's favorite index, the Misery Index, is back in play, although the MSM is religiously avoiding the topic.

The Misery Index is the sum of the unemployment rate plus the interest rate. The Misery Index now stands at 13.4 - higher now than at any point since 1982.

Along with the economic misery associated with the Misery Index, comes crime. There is a definite correlation between increases in the Misery Index and crime rates. Anecdotally, I have seen an increase in bank robberies and theft in my region of the country. I am certain this is a national trend, and will continue.

If the Obama "economic" team continues to follow Carter's imprudent path, the next step will be a soak-the-rich tax plan that will destroy wealth in the United States. Of course, Jimmy Carter never tried to add a Mandate, Cap, and Tax scheme on top of the economy, or a "Health Reform" plan that needs to increase taxes to fund cuts in spending (I'm still trying to get my head around that line of "reasoning".)

Objectively looking at the imprudent economic policies being implemented by the Obama/Geithner/Bernake economic team, my prediction is a full-blown depression. Citizens would do well to husband their economic resources and, to the extent I could invest, I intend to invest in commodities that closely track increases in inflation. Certainly lock down any loans into a fixed interest rate. When interest rates are back at double digits, single digit fixed rate loans will look brilliant.