The emperor has no clothes -- and the public doesn't like what it sees
A recent interview of a Biden Administration official illustrates how deep a policy hole this Administration has dug for us in a critical area. A newly recorded dialogue on the U.S. monetary system focused on the nature of money, borrowing, and debt. What was not revealed during this discussion was an acknowledgement that Biden’s economic programs have resulted in a massive inflationary spike during his tenure, with a serious erosion of U.S dollar purchasing power which impacts everyone, every day, when folks shop for food or fill their gas tanks.
The brief narrative presented by Biden’s Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors Jared Bernstein became completely disjointed when he attempted to explain how the Administration, by borrowing, contends with the shortages in tax revenues amounting to trillions of dollars every year to cover federal spending costs.
However, while listening to Bernstein’s dumpster fire of incoherence, a moment of clarity emerged in the midst of his curious interpretations: the presidential appointee had no clue what he was talking about. To wit:
The US government can’t go bankrupt because we can print our own money… well, um… the… uh… so the… I mean… again, some of this stuff gets… some of the language that the MM… 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, uh… uh… the government definitely prints money and it lends that money by uh… by selling bonds
Is that what they do? They… they… um… they… yeah… they… they… um… they sell bonds. Yeah. They sell bonds, right? Since they sell bonds and people buy the bonds and lend them the money. Yeah. So, a lot of times, a lot of times, at least to my ear with MMT, the language and the concepts can be kind of unnecessarily confusing, but there is no question that the government prints money and then it uses that money to um… uh… eh… uh… so… um… yeah… I… I… I guess I'm just… I don't… I can't really ta- I don't… I don't get it.
I don't know what they're talking about, like… cause… 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… this conversation. I don't think there's anything confusing there, Bernstein concluded.
From an objective perspective, based on Bernstein’s inscrutable attempt at clarifying a major fiscal tactic employed by the U.S. Treasury, the critical underpinnings of financing the U.S. budget and their effects on the domestic economy appears to be a complete mystery to him. Thus, his position serving as a skilled policy professional is miscast.
Although his educational background consists of a B.A. in music as well as a Master of Social Work degree from Columbia University, it seems it is time for a metaphysical shepherd’s crook to usher him off the economics stage. This type of preparation does not make him qualified to advise the president or anyone, for that matter, on the fields of economics and national budgets. As evidenced by the miserable conditions after three years at the helm, he should no longer have any voice in this arena, as his comprehension of sound methods and outcomes of U.S. economic policies have run afoul of the lofty goals of promoting stable prices, maximum employment of the domestic workforce, and the dependability of the U.S. dollar.
Upon reflection, he might be better suited for a temporary slot at the U.S. Department of Transportation. There he could railroad his disjointed musings over underlings who would likely be unable to track his thoughts but would certainly be kept diverted until being bounced out of office after the upcoming election.
Marc E. Zimmerman is a former legislative assistant to a Member of the U.S. Congress.
Image: New America