Jared Bernstein Tapped as Biden’s Chief Economist

Cross-posted at Out of the Spotlight on Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity.

Biden Bets Big on Bernstein… Joe Biden just announced that Jared Bernstein, of the Economic Policy Institute, will be Biden’s chief economist and economic policy advisor. One of the leading Washington voices for a liberal, pro-labor economic stance, Jared can always be counted on to advocate for low-wage workers and their families. His two most recent books, All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy and Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? (And Other Unsolved Economic Mysteries) both devote big chunks of real estate to the plight of struggling, hard-pressed American families.

Biden’s choice of Jared is another indication both that Biden is putting a serious team together, and that there will be strong liberal voices on Obama’s economic team. While Jared has been positioned to the left of most of Obama’s team on big issues like trade, in recent months he seems to have pulled some of the centrist economists towards his point-of-view, rather than vice versa. Witness folks like Larry Summers, recently tapped by President-elect Obama to head up the National Economic Council, doing a darned good imitation of Jared:

"We all need to recognize… more Americans think the country is going in the wrong direction…More Americans think that their children aren’t likely to be as economically successful as they were … and if one looks at Congress, if one looks at the President, if one looks at business leaders as a group…faith in their leadership is at a low. And so making the choices that lie ahead wisely, decisively, and in the broad interest is of immense importance not just for peoples’ economic well being but for a sense of the broad legitimacy of the society of which we are a part.”

Jared is, by some counts, the single most quoted U.S. economist in the media today. With his quick wit, talent for highly quotable quotes, and analysis, both speedy and sharp, this EPI numbers maven is much in demand by media like CNN, MSNBC, Fox, NPR, and WAPO. The only downside to Jared joining the Obama administration is that he’ll likely have to stifle some of that wicked wit!

posted by Mike

________________________________________________________

Here at Out of the Spotlight we love rumors and gossip (at least of the non-malicious type), so if you hear names that you think we should pay attention to, drop us a line at either mlaracy@aecf.org or watersboots@hotmail.com.We’ll post new names as we get ‘em! Of course, OOTS dishes on much more than who might be on the dream team. Check out "Out of the Spotlight" for our take on behind-the-scenes policy sparring, the twists and turns of political plans, and more. Contributions welcome!