– This was as a survey by an economist from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, United state, Steve Hanke, places Nigeria as sixth on the list
– The survey reveals that the unemployment rate was the key determinant that pushed Nigeria up on the scale
According to research by an economist from John Hopkins University in Baltimore, United state, Steve Hanke, Nigeria ranks the sixth among miserable countries in the world.
Hanke’s survey reveals that Venezuela tops the list of miserable countries in the world. He said “Venezuela holds the inglorious title of the most miserable country in the world in 2018, as it did in 2017, 2016, and 2015.”
However, Argentina jumped to the No. 2 spot after yet another peso crisis. Since its founding, Argentina has been burdened with numerous economic crises, Vanguard reports.
Most can be laid at the feet of domestic mismanagement and currency problems. Iran took third in the ranking, before Brazil that made it to the fourth position. Turkey took the fifth position as the giant of Africa Nigeria emerged sixth.
The Misery Index was arrived at after consideration of economic indices such as unemployment, inflation and bank lending rates. In the case of Nigeria, the unemployment rate was the key determinant that pushed it up on the scale.
Hanke said: “The first Misery Index was constructed by economist Art Okun in the 1960s as a way to provide President Lyndon Johnson with an easily digestible snapshot of the economy. That original Misery Index was just a simple sum of a nation’s annual inflation rate and its unemployment rate.
“The Index has been modified several times, first by Robert Barro of Harvard and then by myself. Nigerian economic confidence falls by 3% in 12mths — ACCA “My modified Misery Index is the sum of the unemployment, inflation and bank lending rates, minus the percentage change in real GDP per capita.
“Higher readings on the first three elements are “bad” and make people more miserable. These are offset by a “good” (GDP per capita growth), which is subtracted from the sum of the “bads.” A higher Misery Index score reflects a higher level of “misery,” and it’s a simple enough metric that a busy president, without time for extensive economic briefings, can understand at a glance.
“The accompanying table contains Misery Index rankings for the 95 nations that report relevant data on a timely basis. For consistency and comparability, and with few exceptions, data were retrieved from the Economist Intelligence Unit.”
This was contained in World Poverty Clock, created by Vienna-based World Data Lab. According to the report, 91.16 million Nigerians were living below a dollar a day as of February 13, 2019.
Minimum Wage: Is N30,000