- published: 13 Jun 2011
- views: 1310
Jared Bernstein (born 1955) is a Senior Fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. From 2009 to 2011, Bernstein was the Chief Economist and Economic Adviser to Vice President Joseph Biden in the Obama Administration. Bernstein is considered to represent a progressive, pro-labor perspective.
Born to a Jewish-American family, Bernstein graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from the Manhattan School of Music where he studied double bass with Orin O'Brien. He earned a Master's degree in Social Work from the Hunter College School of Social Work, and, from Columbia University, he received a Master's degree in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Social Welfare.
Bernstein has taught at Howard University, Columbia University and New York University. His areas of interest include "federal, state and international economic policies, specifically the middle class squeeze, income inequality and mobility, trends in employment and earnings, low-wage labor markets, poverty, and international comparisons." He is known as a critic of free trade agreements such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).