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Jared Bernstein

Jared Bernstein, a former deputy chief economist for the U.S. Labor Department, is a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. He is the co-author of seven editions of The State of Working America and the author of All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy.

Recent Articles

Crunching Numbers

Jared BernsteinFeb 04, 2005

Just in case you missed it, the central economic problem of our time was revealed on January 28 at 8:30 a.m.

On that chilly morning, the government released two reports that, taken together, capture a critical imbalance embedded in our economy. We learned that the nation's gross domestic product, our most comprehensive measure of economic performance, grew 4.4 percent last year, the best year for GDP growth since 1999. A second report, on employers' costs, revealed that inflation-adjusted wages, on average, fell slightly for the year, the first time that's happened in more than a decade.

States of Flux

Jared BernsteinDec 14, 2004

Don't despair, progressives. I bring a message of hope, and it comes from those renowned laboratories of democracy: the states.

I just returned from the annual meeting of the Economic Analysis and Research Network, or EARN, as we call it around here. EARN is a collaboration of progressive state-level organizations engaged in research and advocacy, and the message from this year's meeting was crystal clear: If anything good happens, it's going to happen in the states.

The Economic Policy Institute helps to run the EARN network, and its director here at EPI is Michael Ettlinger. Michael was kind enough to grant me an interview for this story (translation: I mugged him at the water cooler).

It's Still the Economy, Stupid

Jared BernsteinNov 15, 2004

There are many lessons to be learned from the 2004 election, but one that the conservative pundits are sure to glean is that “It's not the economy, stupid.”

That's what that other George W. (i.e., Will, on ABC's This Week) said a few weeks before the election. “That's what we've learned. … the American economy is now so well run and so resilient and so productive, it's hard to dislodge it from wealth creation, and we've gone on I think to worry about other things.”

The Squeeze is On

Jared BernsteinSep 28, 2004

Other than vague generalities about turning corners, you don't hear a lot these days from the Republicans on how middle-income American families are doing. The strategy of the Bush campaign is to blame most of our economic woes on September 11, which brings the electorate right back to fear and terror, not changing horses, and painting the other guy as too indecisive to take it to the enemy.

Thus, when conservative economist Kevin Hassett of the American Enterprise Institute writes an article dismissing the notion of a middle-class squeeze, it's worth taking notice.

Room for Growth

Jared BernsteinSep 03, 2004

When I was a kid we had this crazy dog that used to chase cars for all he was worth. My father used to yell after him, “What the heck you gonna do with it if you catch it?!?”

Given much of the recent economic news, one might say the same thing to John Kerry (I'm afraid I know what George W. Bush would do): If you win, what are you going to do with the spate of developing economic problems?

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