Biden chief economic adviser Jared Bernstein struggled to explain modern monetary theory underpinning “Bidenomics” and mass spending in a newly released documentary.
Bernstein stuttered and pondered as he attempted to explain why the U.S. government borrows money when it is capable of printing its own currency.
“Like you said, they print the dollars. So why, why does the government even borrow?” an interviewer asked Bernstein.
“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,” Bernstein said in the documentary, “Finding The Money.”
CLIP: We hear a lot about the national debt.
But do currency-issuing governments really ‘borrow’ their own currencies?
The answer might surprise you.Watch FINDING THE MONEY documentary, In Theaters and On Demand TOMORROW May 3: https://t.co/H1e5fEuV7t pic.twitter.com/MA3AGIcCXi
— FINDING THE MONEY Film (@FindingMoneyDoc) May 2, 2024
Bernstein continued to struggle explaining the basic concepts about U.S. monetary policy. He seemingly said he doesn’t “get” what critics mean when they suggest the U.S. could just print more money rather than borrowing. (RELATED: ‘It’s Not Working’: Joe Kernen Pours Cold Water On ‘Bidenomics’ to Biden Economic Adviser Jared Bernstein’s Face)
“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.”
Bernstein pushed the U.S. government to end its role as the “world’s reserve currency” and its “commitment to maintaining the dollar’s reserve-currency status” in a New York Times op-ed published in August 2014. He argued doing so would prevent other countries from “accumulating too much” of U.S. currency and limit the number of overseas exporting jobs.
“But while more balanced trade might raise prices, there’s no reason it should persistently increase the inflation rate. We might settle into a norm of 2 to 3 percent inflation, versus the current 1 to 2 percent. But that’s a price worth paying for more and higher-quality jobs, more stable recoveries and a revitalized manufacturing sector. The privilege of having the world’s reserve currency is one America can no longer afford,” Bernstein wrote in 2014.
The adviser has been a prominent leader in promoting “Bidenomics,” aimed at easing the record-high inflation numbers soaring throughout President Joe Biden’s administration, though he has received much pushback from television anchors. The White House soon attempted to scrap that term as polls showed Americans’ disapproval with the current state of the economy Axios reported.
He also backed the Biden administration’s student loan forgiveness program which provides $10,000 in relief for those making under $125,000 a year and $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.