President Joe Biden’s chief economic adviser struggled to explain a simple economic question during a newly released documentary titled “Finding The Money.”
Jared Bernstein stuttered several times when asked why the government borrows trillions of dollars when it can easily just print its own currency.
“Like you said, they print the dollars. So why, why does the government even borrow?” A reporter asked.
In response, Biden’s economic advisor said that the language of it was “confusing,” sparking concern that Bernstein has no idea how bonds actually work.
Bernstein continued to say that he doesn’t “get” what people mean when they propose that the government should print more money rather than borrow it. He also struggled to describe basic concepts regarding the U.S. monetary system, indicating that he didn’t know how it worked himself.
“Well, um, the uh … so the … I mean, again, some of this stuff gets — some of the … language that — some of the language and concepts are just confusing. I mean, the government definitely prints money and it definitely lends that money, which is why … um … the government definitely prints money and then it lends that money by, uh, by selling bonds. Is that what they do? … They, they uh … they, yeah, they um … they sell bonds … yeah, they sell bonds. Right? Since they sell bonds and then people buy the bonds and lend them the money.
“Yeah, I mean I can’t really talk about it. I don’t get it. I don’t know what they’re talking about because it’s like, the government clearly prints money. It does it all the time, and it clearly borrows. Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this debt and deficit conversation. So, I don’t think there’s anything confusing there.” Via @RnaudBertrand
The economic advisor has been a crucial part in promoting Bidenomics, which was supposed to slow inflation down and has reached historic levels since the president entered office.
Critics of Bernstein were also quick to point out that Biden’s economic advisor graduated with a bachelor's degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music.
This is absolutely priceless. And probably the most frightening clip you'll ever watch on the people in charge of the US economy.
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) May 3, 2024
Jared Bernstein is literally the Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, the main agency advising Biden on economic policypic.twitter.com/1b31FPFPCQ