Jared Bernstein, PhD
Renowned Economist and Author
Getting Back on Offense: Diagnoses and Prescriptions—What’s Gone Wrong and What Social Workers Can Do About It
NEW: Select his October 24, 2014 blog posting for the slides of his APM presentation.
Jared Bernstein began his career as a social worker helping poor people in New York City. He believes that most economists and politicians haven’t spent enough time in actual neighborhoods where people are just trying to get by. Social workers do just that, and therefore they understand the context in which economic problems exist. Dr. Bernstein argues that inequality has been caused by increased globalization, diminished unionization, technological changes, the decline in the real value of the minimum wage, regressive changes in the tax code, and financial deregulation—and that nearly all of these are policy issues, which means that changing the situation will require changing policy. He believes that it will take a movement, which George Packer defines as “an idea of the future that’s genuinely shared by large numbers of people.” Bernstein will encourage social workers to go on the offensive by using their unique skills to mobilize groups of people into an economic rights movement and to lobby and advocate for increased educational opportunities for all, raising not just the minimum but also the median wage, a Full Employment Act, and a national policy that promotes accountability and opportunity for all.
Biography Sketch
Jared Bernstein joined the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in May 2011 as a senior fellow. From 2009 to 2011, Bernstein was the chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, executive director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class, and a member of President Obama’s economic team.
Bernstein’s areas of expertise include federal and state economic and fiscal policies, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, international comparisons, and the analysis of financial and housing markets.
Prior to joining the Obama administration Bernstein was a senior economist and the director of the Living Standards Program at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, DC. Between 1995 and 1996 he held the post of deputy chief economist at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Bernstein is the author or coauthor of numerous books for popular and academic audiences, including Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed? and nine editions of The State of Working America. Bernstein has published extensively in various venues, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Financial Times, and Research in Economics and Statistics. He is an on-air commentator for the cable stations CNBC and MSNBC and hosts a popular economics blog at jaredbernsteinblog.com.
Bernstein holds a PhD in social welfare from Columbia University.
Membership Meeting
The annual CSWE Membership Meeting offers members an opportunity to meet many of those involved in CSWE leadership positions. Those representatives will provide updates concerning CSWE activities and will be available to answer questions related to CSWE membership.
This event will be held on Friday, October 24 from 5:00 pm–6:00 pm in Room 22 of the Tampa Convention Center.