Jared Bernstein, Economic Adviser, Cannot Answer Basic Question on Monetary Policy

Meet Jared Bernstein who chairs the White House Council of Economic Advisers. Problem? For starters, he is not an Economist. Bernstein graduated with a bachelor’s degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied double bass with Orin O’Brien. Throughout the ’80s, Bernstein was a mainstay on the jazz scene in NYC. He also earned a Master of Social Work from Hunter College as well as a DSW in social welfare from Columbia University’s school of social work.

A keen supporter of MMT.

“The U.S. government can’t go bankrupt, because we can print our own money,” Bernstein says in the video. He was then asked by the interviewer, “Like you said, they print the dollar, so why does the government even borrow?”

He was interviewed for a new film called, “Finding the Money,” a documentary made by advocates of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) – a controversial line of economic thought. One of MMT’s central tenets is that government budget deficits don’t matter for countries like the U.S. that borrow money in their own currencies. Proponents argue this means the government should use tax and spending policies to manage the economy and address inflation instead of the central bank’s monetary policies.

Let’s get to it:

Regular readers of Bunkerville may remember that this is not the first appearance of Jared here. Back in 2010, there was the infamous Journolist.

Jared Bernstein, chief economist for Vice President Joseph Biden, served in 2008 as an economic adviser to the Obama campaign. At the same time, he was a member of JournoList, the controversial progressive email list.

Bernstein’s bio at Politico, which appears not to have been updated since 2008, states: “He is an economic adviser to the Obama campaign.”

He was known to many for his regular appearances on the financial channel CNBC. His primary employer in 2008 was the Economic Policy Institute, a pro-labor progressive think tank, but according to his bio when appointed to the Obama-Biden Administration, he also was a member of the Panel of Economic Advisers of the Congressional Budget Office.

Then again last year. Here is part of it:

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

June 15, 2023

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.

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.

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For more on his story, check out the Fox piece here

Background Source: Wikipedia

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