Misery Index shows deterioration
11/01/2012 00:00
Linda Rama: Between Family, Work and Albania’s Future 18/08 14:30
Although Albania has been able to keep a positive pace in the economic
growth, without falling to recession, the international crisis has
brought negative consequences for its citizens.
But at what amount? Economists suggest a series of indicators for measuring the crisis’ negative effects. One of the main is the Misery Index, which combines two powerful indicators: unemployment and inflation. Unemployment, combined with the price increase of inflation, creates a social cost that could be dramatic for the most unprotected social classes, those with smaller revenues.
In 2000, the Index of Misery for Albania was 21%, according to INSTAT. Due to constant unemployment reduction and stabilization of prices, this indicator improved and reached 14.7% in 2008. But right after this year, initially with the world’s price crisis and then the deterioration of the real economy, the Misery Index went lower for Albania. In 2010, this number went to 16.9, almost equal to the 17.3 that it was in 2002.
The economic growth cannot measure all negative effects all alone, especially for different social classes. Albania’s poverty has been reduced, but the last measurement was in 2008, when the Misery Index was in the lowest point. Since then, no one knows what has happened with poverty in Albania and how the crisis has hit the different social classes. The growth of the Misery Index is a signal that the crisis might have had big consequences in the less protected social classes.
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