I had hoped that reader Burning Madoff was jokingly substituting one Jared Bernstein with another, but to my horror, he wasn't
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Burning Madoff wrote, “As long as Jared Bernstein is still head of the Council of Econ Advisers we should be good.”
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 New York City.
He also earned a Master of Social Work from Hunter College as well as a Doctor of Social Work in social welfare from Columbia University's school of social work in 1994.
Bernstein has taught at Howard University, Columbia University, and New York University. His areas of interest include "federal, state and international economic policies, specifically the middle class squeeze, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, low-wage labor markets, poverty, and international comparisons."
In 1992, Bernstein started working as a senior official at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a liberal think tank with a focus on issues affecting low- and middle-income working people.[4] From 1995 to 1996, he served in the United States Department of Labor as deputy chief economist. He then returned to the EPI, as senior economist and director of the Living Standards Program, until he was selected by Biden. His designated job on the vice presidential staff is a new position, created because of "the critical nature of the economic challenges facing America." Upon his appointment, some journalists claimed that it "contrasts sharply with the more centrist views of many of president-elect Barack Obama's economic advisers."
Bernstein sits on the Congressional Budget Office's advisory committee. He is a contributor at the financial news network CNBC. He also was appointed executive director of the Middle Class Working Families Task Force and is responsible for direct management of the project.
Paul Krugman, a Nobel laureate in economics and a noted progressive columnist, argued in November 2008 that the centrist makeup of President Barack Obama's economic inner circle, the new Economic Recovery Advisory Board, could be used to "give progressive economists a voice," and he mentioned Bernstein and fellow EPI economist president Lawrence Mishel among others as progressive economists who might be suitable for the board.
Biden administration
On September 5, 2020, Bernstein was announced to be a member of the advisory council of the Biden-Harris Transition Team, which was planning the presidential transition of Joe Biden. Subsequently, President Joe Biden selected Bernstein to serve on the Council of Economic Advisors in January 2021.
In February 2023, Bernstein was nominated as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers by President Biden, replacing Cecilia Rouse.
On May 11, 2023, the United States Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs advanced Bernstein's nomination by a 12–11 vote. On June 13, 2023, the United States Senate invoked cloture on Bernstein's nomination by a 50–49 vote. He was confirmed later that day by a 50–49 vote
