Jared Bernstein: ‘Folks Who Are Clipping Stock Coupons Are Doing Fine’

EXCERPT:

BERNSTEIN: “I mean, [Biden] was elected, among many other reasons, to address the dual crisis of COVID-19 and the terrible damage it has wrecked in not just in people’s lives but in the overall economy, and to address the economic damage. Now we know that damage has been disproportionately to the bottom leg of the K in this K-shaped recovery, with folks, you know, clipping stock coupons who are doing fine, and many of the folks in the bottom half, including very poor families that we’re talking about, struggling to get ahead. So this proposal, the American rescue plan, has I think very deep Democratic support and I’m optimistic about its passage. That doesn’t mean that we’re finished or that we don't want to listen to other people on both sides of the aisle who have ideas about building on this. But I think right now the focus is on getting this fully refundable child tax credit, as proposed in the rescue plan, across the legislative goal line.”