Labor & Economy
Watch Now: Jared Bernstein on Inequality & Lip-Syncing Republicans

When Jared Bernstein recently sat down with Capital & Main, he had just been chosen as chair of the National Employment Law Project’s board of directors, while continuing his roles as a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and as a frequent commentator on MSNBC and CNBC. Picked in 2009 by Joe Biden to be the Vice President’s top economic advisor, Bernstein had already distinguished himself as a passionate critic of inequality during his long tenure at the Economic Policy Institute, one of the country’s leading think tanks. His views on economic issues were well to the left of Obama’s and the rest of the President’s team, ensuring that progressive ideas would get a hearing inside the White House as the administration wrestled with the worst downturn since the Great Depression.
While Obama and his advisors succeeded in reversing the Great Recession’s massive job losses and saving the bacon of the financial industry, they could claim no such victory when it came to income inequality and the inexorable decline of the middle class. And Bernstein, who left his White House position in 2011, is the first to admit it. In his new book, The Reconnection Agenda: Reuniting Growth and Prosperity, Bernstein lays out an ambitious agenda to restore the lost relationship between economic expansion and the well-being of most Americans.
Here is the full video of our interview with Bernstein, which we present in addition to a previously published podcast version. In the interview, Bernstein discusses the nation’s inequality morass, the upcoming presidential race and his favorite Joe Biden moment.

-
Latest NewsSeptember 24, 2025
Too Old to Keep Working, Not Enough Money to Stop
-
Latest NewsOctober 14, 2025
People in ICE Custody Face Invasive Strip Searches After Visits With Loved Ones
-
The SlickSeptember 22, 2025
New Mexico Governor Puts Finger on Scale in Oilfield Wastewater Vote
-
Column - State of InequalitySeptember 18, 2025
California Moves to Curb Ultraprocessed Foods in School Cafeterias
-
Column - State of InequalitySeptember 25, 2025
When Workers Unite, Even Disney Has to Listen
-
Latest NewsSeptember 23, 2025
ICE Is Transferring People in Its Custody Away From Family, Lawyers
-
Column - State of InequalityOctober 9, 2025
California Joins New York in Trying to Fill a Void on Worker Protections
-
Latest NewsSeptember 26, 2025
Assault on Accessibility Initiatives Hits Early Career Scientists Hard