How to Teach ‘Economic Misery and Presidential Elections’ Lesson Plan

In this economics webinar, teachers will learn how to implement a lesson plan that makes predictions about presidential elections.

Many factors influence voters as they decide how they will vote. The economic policies advocated by candidates and political parties are important factors in these decisions. No matter what policies a presidential candidate may propose, however, an incumbent candidate is often blamed for or credited with how well the economy is doing, and many voters base their decisions narrowly on how the nation’s economy affects them at the time.

Certain key measures of economic performance can help to predict the election outcome. This lesson shows how two economic measures, the Misery Index and the growth rate in real GDP per capita, can be used to make predictions about presidential elections.

Economics and misery lesson plan