Key Biden Adviser Sees 'Real Momentum’ in Economy

Jared Bernstein, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, touted recent momentum in the economy on Sunday and said he believes the U.S. will avoid a recession.

When asked about recession warnings earlier this year, Bernstein told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart on „The Sunday Show,” „There’s some real momentum in this economy, so a lot of those calls have been called back.

Bernstein noted that forecasting is challenging in an uncertain economy, but he remains optimistic, citing falling inflation and a strong, but stable, labor market.

„When you have inflation on an annualized basis, falling for 12 months in a row, down two-thirds from where it was a year ago, and when you’ve had strong job gains for years — 70 percent of our economy is consumer spending. So, when you have a strong labor market, „If we give consumers some purchasing power, it gives economic growth momentum. And quarter after quarter, we have seen positive growth rates,” he said.

“Look, we live in a period of considerable uncertainty. So I think the prediction is going to be a challenging game, but I see that kind of momentum and I like where we are in that respect,” he added.

While Bernstein acknowledged that Americans don’t always credit the Biden administration’s policies for modest improvements in the economy, he said he understands the difficulties of the past few years. Citing a recent poll conducted by the University of Michigan, he said it indicated a possible shift in sentiment and said he hoped new programs emerging around the country would demonstrate the impact of some of the laws Biden supported.

„Americans have been through a ton,” Bernstein said. „That means a pandemic on a scale we haven’t seen in a century, a global inflation of supply chains around the world, a horrific invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine.”

„As I weigh all of this, the public sentiment and the whole time President Biden has his head down with one goal in particular, which is to raise the economic conditions of the middle class in the middle of it all,” he said.