Biden to name two top economic advisers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Tuesday will appoint Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Lael Brainard as the new director of his National Economic Council, a key person in policy coordination, engagement with business leaders and the negotiation with Congress.

Biden will also appoint his adviser Jared Bernstein to serve as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, according to an official source close to the plans, who asked not to be named because the official announcement had not been made.

Brainard and Bernstein’s appointments come at a sensitive time for the US economy. Unemployment is at 3.4%, almost a 54-year low, but inflation remains high at 6.4% and there are fears of an impending recession.

Brainard will succeed Brian Deese, who helped orchestrate several legislative victories for Biden, including pandemic relief, infrastructure spending and investments in computer chip production.

Brainard, 61, has a doctorate in economics from Harvard University. During Bill Clinton’s presidency, she served as Deputy Director of the National Economic Council and under Barack Obama, she served as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs in the Treasury Department. She joined the Federal Reserve in 2014 as governor and was appointed by Biden as vice president. Her husband is Kurt Campbell, an expert on Asian issues for the National Security Council.

Bernstein is a member of the Council of Economic Advisers where he will succeed current chair Cecilia Rouse, who will return to Princeton University. Interested in labor markets and economic inequality, Bernstein worked as an adviser to Biden when he was vice president under President Obama.

Brainard’s departure from the Federal Reserve comes as the US central bank refines its inflation strategy without triggering a severe recession. Brainard supported keeping interest rates low to boost employment, counterbalancing supporters of higher rates to fight inflation.

In a speech last month, Brainard argued that the fight against inflation may not have adverse effects on the labor market, such as the mass layoffs against which other Fed officials, including the chairman of the Fed, Jerome Powell, warned. . Instead, he said companies could be forced to cut prices and profit margins in the face of falling demand, which would help keep inflation in check.