WH Econ. Adviser: Tight Labor Market ‘Absolutely Key to Bidenomics’ — Defends Killing Keystone

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Jared Bernstein argued that having a tight labor market is “absolutely key to Bidenomics” and pushed back on criticism of the administration for killing the Keystone XL pipeline by pointing to declining gas prices in December and drops in the price from the peak in June.

Bernstein acknowledged [relevant remarks begin around 2:20] that there are some companies cutting jobs, but due to the tight labor market, “many of those folks are finding jobs, and good jobs, pretty quickly. Even people who have jobs are upgrading their employment. We’re seeing that in the quit rates, getting better jobs. That’s the kind of upward mobility, upward opportunity that is absolutely key to Bidenomics. And you just don’t get there without this kind of a labor market. So, really, the president’s economic plan is unfolding in ways that are, I think, extremely helpful to working Americans.”

After listening to Canary CEO Dan Eberhart criticizing the Biden administration for killing the Keystone XL pipeline because, among other reasons, the pipeline would have created jobs, “I say, one number to start with, -8.6%. Let’s call that -9% to keep it simple. That’s the decline in the price of retail gas over the month of December. Okay, that’s real breathing room at the pump, that’s a 30-cent per gallon decline. And that, of course, follows on months and months of decline in retail gas prices that peaked at over $5 a gallon in mid-June of last year. The president has been acutely aware of the stressor that energy costs [mean] for working families. And he got to work early last year with the release of oil from the strategic reserves, continues to work with our allies with the Russian price cap.”

Host Martha MacCallum then cut in to ask, “Will he be replacing those Strategic Petroleum Reserves at that price?”

Bernstein answered, “Probably that kind of — he cited a price of around $70 a barrel for replacement. And that has been the price of WTI oil recently. So, that kind of replacement probably would occur at some point. And by the way, that means every barrel, which we sold at about $96 a barrel, we buy at 70 to replenish. That’s a great break for the American taxpayer.”

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