Senate Confirms Jared Bernstein, Wants to “Dethrone King Dollar” as Reserve Currency

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Jared Bernstein to become chair of the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA). His education is in Music and Social Work with a PhD in Social Welfare. Perfect. Turns out the Dollar as the Reserve Currency is a “burden” he thinks. We cannot afford it so goes his thinking. Well this is certainly a twist on policy after we are reassured that “not to worry” our dollar is going no where fast. If we have a plant in the government who actually wants this what possibly could go wrong?

Senators voted 50-49 on Bernstein’s nomination to the post that Cecilia Rouse vacated in March. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was the lone Democrat to side with every present Republican.

“Mr. Bernstein’s economic philosophy is problematic as he has shown a willingness to disregard the need for all-of-the-above energy policies and necessary federal budget cuts to alleviate the skyrocketing cost of living for working families,” Manchin explained in a statement.

“I did not vote for Mr. Bernstein because we must protect America’s economic stability and energy security from radical policies such as the Green New Deal,” Manchin added.

Republicans lined up to oppose Bernstein ahead of the vote, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) arguing that he was a political choice to serve as chair.

“The CEA was designed to produce objective, empirical economic analysis. With the rarest of exceptions, it’s been led by a seasoned economist with a PhD in the field. That streak would end with Mr. Bernstein,” McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

“The nominee the Senate will consider this week can more accurately claim expertise in partisan warfare than economics.”

His bio indicates he is a “Progressive.” Wikipedia indicates that Bernstein graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied double bass with Orin O’Brien. He also earned a Master of Social Work from Hunter College as well as a master’s degree in philosophy and a PhD in social welfare from Columbia University.^[5]  In 2008, Michael D. Shear described Bernstein as a progressive and “a strong advocate for workers”.^[3]

His 2014 NYTimes Op-Ed where he promotes the idea of abandoning support of the dollar’s reserve currency status.

Bernstein writes:

“THERE are few truisms about the world economy, but for decades, one has been the role of the United States dollar as the world’s reserve currency. It’s a core principle of American economic policy. After all, who wouldn’t want their currency to be the one that foreign banks and governments want to hold in reserve?

But new research reveals that what was once a privilege is now a burden, undermining job growth, pumping up budget and trade deficits and inflating financial bubbles. To get the American economy on track, the government needs to drop its commitment to maintaining the dollar’s reserve-currency status.

….

The privilege of having the world’s reserve currency is one America can no longer afford.”

Bernstein’s confirmation came coincidentally the same day as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned that the U.S. dollar’s international status as the chief reserve currency is slowly diminishing as other countries diversify their assets.

Read more

Our gal Yellin.

Sen. Rand Paul: The dollar is in a precarious position

The best of the swamp.