Friday, February 22, 2013

NEW: Misery Index about to soar in CA, US

The “Misery Index” is inflation plus the unemployment rate. For example, today the U.S. unemployment rate is 7.9 percent and inflation is 1.7 percent. So the “Misery Index” (rounding off) is 10 points. - Chriss Street/Cal Watchdog

Anything above 10 points is considered a tough time for the economy.... With inflation about to force the Fed to raise rates, the Misery Index is about to soar well above 10 points. And it will be even higher in high-unemployment California.

California's high taxes bring low - Dan Walters/Sacramento Bee

One of the annoying anomalies about government services in California is that while we carry one of the nation's highest state and local tax burdens – over 10 percent of personal income – we consistently rank very low in what those many billions of tax dollars provide.

That disconnect is very evident in public education, the single biggest consumer of tax dollars as well as the most popular thing that governments do.

Despite our high taxes, California consistently ranks in the lower quadrant of per-pupil spending and much of that money has been diverted into an almost impenetrable thicket of specialized pots.

Meanwhile, the outcomes, as measured by academic tests and high school graduation rates, range from poor to mediocre.