{"id":2238132,"date":"2024-05-06T08:08:01","date_gmt":"2024-05-06T12:08:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-economics-adviser-tacitly-admits-he-doesnt-understand-economics\/"},"modified":"2024-05-06T08:14:20","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T12:14:20","slug":"biden-economics-adviser-tacitly-admits-he-doesnt-understand-economics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-economics-adviser-tacitly-admits-he-doesnt-understand-economics\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden&#8217;s Economic Advisor Acknowledges Lack of Understanding in Economics"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-economics-adviser-tacitly-admits-he-doesnt-understand-economics%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2238132&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses a viral video on &#8220;Bidenflation,&#8221; featuring Jared Bernstein from &#8220;Finding the Money.&#8221; It delves into <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/5-reasons-making-taxpayers-pay-off-student-loans-is-a-rotten-idea\/\" title=\"5 Reasons Making Taxpayers Pay Off Student Loans Is A Rotten Idea\">modern monetary theory<\/a> and the impact on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kudlow-trump-was-a-brilliant-consequential-president\/\" title=\"Kudlow: Trump Was a \u2018Brilliant, Consequential\u2019 President\">economic policy<\/a>. The flawed concept of printing money and its\u2064 implications on inflation and the Federal Reserve&#8217;s independence are highlighted, emphasizing the risks of\u200b such \u200ceconomic strategies. The article examines a \u2062viral video on &#8220;Bidenflation,&#8221; \u2062showcasing Jared Bernstein from &#8220;Finding the Money.&#8221; It explores modern monetary theory&#8217;s influence on economic policy, focusing on the risks associated with printing money, inflation, and the\u200b autonomy of\u200c the Federal Reserve.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>A recent viral video receiving millions of views online explains why millions of American families continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/17\/persistent-bidenflation-explains-why-americans-think-the-economy-is-poor\/\">struggle with \u201cBidenflation<\/a>.\u201d Well, perhaps \u201cexplain\u201d is too strong a term.<\/p>\n<p>In the video, an excerpt from the new leftist documentary <a href=\"https:\/\/findingmoneyfilm.com\/\"><em>Finding the Money<\/em><\/a>, Jared Bernstein, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, discusses modern monetary theory\u2014the idea that the federal government could eliminate the national debt simply by printing money. To say Bernstein\u2019s musings on the topic lack coherence is an understatement:<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-666891558\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6a7371d437d7d9232b70a34e36aa7cc8 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6a7371d437d7d9232b70a34e36aa7cc8\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"> <span class=\"9uREjbMnQl2tXGzC\"><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is absolutely insane\u2026<\/p>\n<p>This is Jared Bernstein. Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.<\/p>\n<p>He advises Biden on economic policy.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Gi2j99dn5d\">pic.twitter.com\/Gi2j99dn5d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Geiger_Capital\/status\/1786377408993468714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Anyone who feels more confident about \u201cBidenomics\u201d after watching this video probably should get his head examined.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Who Prints the Money?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The problems with modern monetary theory, and Bernstein\u2019s comments about it, starts with his assertion that \u201cgovernment prints the money.\u201d It\u2019s a true enough statement, but could benefit from some unpacking.<\/p>\n<p>Most people don\u2019t spend time reading the notes in their wallet or purse, but the Federal Reserve Board issues American currency. The Treasury Department, via the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, creates the currency, but the Fed actually issues it, after paying the Treasury for the cost of production. This system explains why the words \u201cFederal Reserve Note\u201d appear at the top of paper currency in circulation.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Independent Monetary Policy<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>For more than a century, since the 1913 enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, the Fed has conducted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fed-found-economy-is-recovering-much-faster-than-officials-expected\/\" title=\"Fed Found Economy Is Recovering Much Faster Than Officials Expected\">monetary policy<\/a> by determining how much money to print. In theory, at least, it has spent most of that time formulating policy independent of elected officials such as the president and Congress.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e1ead20bc5145b8b01256cac6f06f7b5 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e1ead20bc5145b8b01256cac6f06f7b5\"><\/div>\n<p>When elected officials have intervened in monetary policy, the results have often proved disastrous. As this publication <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/01\/12\/no-conservatives-shouldnt-seek-to-emulate-richard-nixon\/\">noted earlier in the year<\/a>, President Richard Nixon got Fed Chairman Arthur Burns to keep interest rates low as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/the-fed-wont-try-to-boost-biden-central-bank-2024-election-51023ff4?mod=opinion_lead_pos8\">he faced re-election<\/a> in 1972. But after the election, the Fed had to more than double interest rates because inflation soared.<\/p>\n<p>In theory, this conservative would prefer that unelected bureaucrats not make decisions that affect so much of our nation\u2019s economy. But given the way Washington continues to spend <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/04\/19\/trillion-dollar-deficits-explain-why-inflation-keeps-hitting-american-families\/\">trillions of dollars it does not have<\/a> to win voters\u2019 approval, does anyone really think that politicians would raise interest rates when they needed to so to keep inflation in check?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Recipe for Hyperinflation<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>That gets to the basic premise of modern monetary theory: the idea that the federal government need not incur massive amounts of debt, because it can just print more money. The simplest explanation for the flaw in this strategy comes from the shorthand definition of inflation\u2014too much money chasing too few goods.<\/p>\n<p>The trillions of dollars in Covid \u201cstimulus\u201d represented one version of this phenomenon. With Washington sending out \u201cstimmy\u201d checks to Americans nationwide, and paying people more to stay on unemployment than to go back to work, families found themselves with more spare cash to spend. Couple that with the economic chokepoints lockdowns caused\u2014both supply chain snags and the fact that people couldn\u2019t readily spend money on services (such as travel and dining out) for much of 2020\u2014and prices for goods like automobiles and home furniture soared.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4458147136152e8d25f2a6331175a703 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-4458147136152e8d25f2a6331175a703\"><\/div>\n<p>If fully implemented, modern monetary theory would put \u201cBidenflation\u201d on steroids, pumping trillions more dollars into the economy to fund things like student loan bailouts at a time prices remain stubbornly high. It would also undermine the Federal Reserve\u2019s credibility on inflation, at a time the institution is trying to recover from its <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/11\/17\/how-the-federal-reserve-keeps-stoking-inflation\/\">own self-inflicted wounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Ironically, the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/markets\/trump-allies-draw-up-plans-to-blunt-fed-s-independence\/ar-AA1nGap9\">reported<\/a> that the Trump campaign is considering a separate series of policy proposals intended to \u201cblunt\u201d the Fed\u2019s independence. But if Trump\u2019s proposals for greater tariffs would exacerbate inflation (and they would), modern monetary theory poses a far greater risk to the economy and to the Federal Reserve.<\/p>\n<p>To sum up: While the Fed is cleaning up some of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2021\/07\/16\/why-you-should-blame-the-federal-reserves-easy-money-for-todays-inflation\/\">messes it made<\/a> by printing money for the better part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/03\/20\/from-2008-to-the-svb-bailout-new-documentary-traces-the-feds-same-old-recklessness\/\">past 15 years<\/a>, people on the Left want to make those messes even worse. They would do so by undermining the Fed in ways that go far beyond the Trump proposals that one prominent liberal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/opinion\/trump-second-term-plan-includes-federal-reserve-coup\/ar-AA1nIQEb\">called<\/a> \u201ca coup.\u201d Yet somehow Bernstein lacked the knowledge, the wherewithal, or (quite likely) both to explain all this in the clip.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ignorant Policy \u2018Expert<\/strong>\u2018<\/h2>\n<p>Maya MacGuineas of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget attempted to defend Bernstein\u2019s shambolic comments in an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/money\/markets\/white-house-economic-adviser-struggles-with-question-on-monetary-policy\/ar-AA1o8SZC?ocid=msedgntp&#038;pc=DCTS&#038;cvid=b5268d14326c4d3c9b706f0aba16c669&#038;ei=10\">interview with Fox Business<\/a>: \u201cWhat you have there is a serious, credible economist\u2014Jared Bernstein\u2014trying to be polite about a nonsensical economic fairytale that can\u2019t even be called a theory. MMT is forever being reinvented by its defenders who use made-up excuses for why you don\u2019t have to pay for anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Put aside for a moment the idea that any reporter would accept \u201cI was just being polite\u201d as a justification for indulging fringe policies or theories on the right. The fact that Bernstein couldn\u2019t formulate a concise refutation of MMT in an interview <em>he knew would be about modern monetary theory<\/em> speaks to both a lack of preparation for the interview and a lack of skills in translating economic theory into practical terms the public can understand, to use the most charitable interpretation.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a suggestion: Maybe the administration should select someone as chair of the Council of Economic Advisers who has a degree in economics, rather than an <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jared_Bernstein\">undergraduate degree in music<\/a> and graduate degrees in social work. Better yet, the administration should start pursuing policies that make sense with economic reality, rather than indulging leftist crackpot theories that will exacerbate our current inflationary problems.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-5c62d76bc249778d27193e4c17569577 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-5c62d76bc249778d27193e4c17569577\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A viral video sheds light on American families grappling with &#8220;Bidenflation.&#8221; In the clip from &#8220;Finding the Money,&#8221; Jared Bernstein, White House Council of Economic Advisers chair, touches on economic challenges<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":2238133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/bernstein.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2238132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/bernstein.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/521"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2238132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2238132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2238133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2238132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2238132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2238132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}