President Biden’s public schedule for 09/08/2023:
| 12:10 AM Arrived at Ramstein, Germany | The President arrives at Ramstein, Germany for a brief refueling stop (6:10 AM Local) Ramstein Air Base, Germany Out-of-Town Pool |
| 1:40 AM Left Ramstein, Germany | The President departs Ramstein, Germany en route to New Delhi, India (7:40 AM Local) Ramstein Air Base, Germany Out-of-Town Pool |
| 9:55 AM Arrived in New Delhi, India | The President arrives in New Delhi, India (6:55 PM Local) Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, India Open Press |
| 10:35 AM Participated in a Bilateral Meeting | The President participates in a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Republic of India (7:25 PM Local) 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, New Delhi, India |
G20 Summit Tweet/Retweet
From Thursday…
From Friday…
About the G20 trip…
It seems that press access is going to be limited or as one reporter framed it in the audio only press gaggle “nonexistent”…
Q Jake, going back to Modi and American values, our understanding is that press access to the bilat will be pretty limited, if not nonexistent. Can you detail what, from the U.S. side, you guys are doing to press for press access and why Biden would meet with Modi if there are no reporters allowed to participate in a pool spray or something like that?
NSA Jake Sullivan:
Well, first, I mean, the President has private meetings with other heads of state where in the room are the teams and not the press. Secondly, we will of course provide a readout of the meetings so that you have the opportunity to understand what was discussed.
And, third, we have a significant number of issues that we need to deal with with India, both issues that present opportunities for substantial cooperation and our mutual interest and issues where we need to work through differences in perspective. So, the President will take the opportunity to do that.
This meeting will be taking place at the Prime Minister’s residence. So, it is unusual in that respect. This is not your typical bilateral visit to India with meetings taking place in the Prime Minister’s office and an entire program. This is the host of the G20 hosting a significant number of leaders, doing so in his home, and he has set out the protocols he’s set out.
Now, obviously, we in the U.S. government work hard to ensure and obtain access for U.S. journalists to everything the President does. I’ll let Karine detail all the steps we’re taking. But many of us at very senior levels have been significantly involved in this, but that doesn’t always yield a particular journalist standing in a particular pool spray.
What we can pledge to you is what’s in our control, which is ensuring that we are transparent and comprehensive in our readout of what the two leaders discussed, which we will.
White House.gov. 09/07/2023. Posted 09/08/2023.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre:
I do want to address one thing before I open up for questions, and this is what Jake was allud- — was asked from all of you — by all — by — by some of you — about the access for — press access for G20.
Look, as you know — and you hear us say this all the time — when it comes to — comes to free press, it is the pillar of — of our democracy, so we are doing everything that we can to make sure that you guys can cover — cover this important summit.
And so, a couple of things I do want to lay out, as — as I think Jake was alluding to — a couple of things that — key points and key actions that we have — we have done in the past several days — which is Ben LaBolt, the White House Communications Director, reached out to his counterpart. Jake Sullivan, who is — as you know, you just heard from him — our National Security Advisor, reached out to his counterpart as well.
John Finer and Kurt Campbell from the National Security — National Sec- — the National Security Advisor [National Security Council] also reached out to their counterparts. The G7 [G20] Sherpa team pressed their counterparts. State mobilized our ambassador and our embassy. This was a days-long process that we have engaged in, and we will continue to engage, you know, while we are there.
So, this is, as you know, incredibly important to us. We know how important it is for all of you to cover what the President is doing, especially abroad, and so we are — we are doing our darndest, doing our best to do everything that we can to get you access.
As you heard from — from Jake, it — you know, it’s sometimes at these summits — and I know — Justin, you’ve been around for some time now — I’m not — not aging you at — at all. But you have been around for some time now. (Laughter.) And you’ve seen this. You see how other presidents have had to — have to deal with these types of summits. So, this is not new. This is something that any and every administration has to deal with.
And I just wanted to lay out very clearly as to all of the different senior leadership who have been out there talking to their counterpart — -parts and making — making it very clear that we want our press to make sure to be able to — to be there and to be — to — to see the interaction that our President has.
White House.gov. 09/07/2023. Posted 09/08/2023.
“Bidenomics” Tweets
From Thursday…
American Rescue Plan (03/11/2021).
Bipartisan Infrastructure Act (11/15/2021).
Inflation Reduction Act (08/16/2022).
CHIPS and Science Act (08/09/2022).
My hot economic take:
In the before COVID pandemic times, in order to help ballooned inflation–people had to suffer some, because it was the only to get the consumer to slow spending.
We are in the after times of the COVID pandemic–this means people are spending and they are going to continue that spending for at least the rest of this year into next year.
Now, having said the above, it is highly likely that we enter a more normal economic cycle in 2024. The reason I say that is election cycles especially Presidential ones tend to cause both people and businesses to tighten up spending awaiting the changes that might come from a new admin.
Or…
Because our economic cycles are not the standard ebbs and flows of before COVID, we could see an even bigger push toward spending it all and letting God sort it out later…
Speaking of the economy…
This tweet is not related to “Bidenomics” in a straight forward way, but maybe if you squint…
The White House posted…
President Biden Announces Nominees to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (05/12/2023):
Today, President Biden announced his nomination of Dr. Philip Jefferson for Vice Chair and Dr. Adriana Kugler to serve as a Member on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. President Biden also announced that he will renominate Dr. Lisa Cook for an additional full term as a Member.
Statement from President Biden:
Since I took office, the economy has created nearly 13 million jobs, giving millions more families the dignity that a paycheck provides. Annual inflation has come down 45 percent since last summer, and is down 10 months in a row while our job market remains strong. The unemployment rate is 3.4%, the lowest in 50 years. Jobs are up, wages are up, and inflation is coming down.
Today, I am proud to nominate Dr. Jefferson to serve as Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. Last year, the Senate confirmed Dr. Jefferson as a Member of the Board of Governors in a strong, bipartisan vote of 91-7 and I look forward to his swift confirmation as Vice Chair of the Board. In addition, I am nominating Dr. Lisa Cook, who the Senate just confirmed last year, to an additional, full term as Member of the Board of Governors.
Dr. Jefferson and Dr. Cook will continue to bring valuable insight, expertise, and continuity to the Fed at a critical time for our economy and families across the country.
I am also proud to nominate Dr. Adriana Kugler to serve as a member of the Board of Governors. Dr. Kugler is a highly qualified and respected economist with deep expertise in labor markets, worker mobility, and youth employment. She started her career at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, served as Chief Economist of the Labor Department, and was confirmed last year with bipartisan support to serve as U.S. Executive Director to the World Bank.
These nominees understand that this job is not a partisan one, but one that plays a critical role in pursuing maximum employment, maintaining price stability, and supervising many of our nation’s financial institutions. I am confident these nominees will help build upon the historically strong economic recovery we have had under my Administration.
I am grateful to Senate Banking Committee Chair Sherrod Brown for his leadership and support in moving these nominations forward quickly.
White House.gov. 05/12/2023.
Philip Jefferson for Vice Chair
Philip N. Jefferson took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on May 23, 2022, to fill an unexpired term ending January 31, 2036. Most recently, Dr. Jefferson was vice president for academic affairs and dean of faculty and the Paul B. Freeland Professor of Economics at Davidson College. Before then, Dr. Jefferson served as chair of the Department of Economics at Swarthmore College, where he was the Centennial Professor of Economics. Prior to this position, Dr. Jefferson was an economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
Dr. Jefferson’s other past roles include being president of the National Economic Association. He also served on the Vassar College Board of Trustees and the Board of Advisors of the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Dr. Jefferson received a BA in economics from Vassar College and an MA and a PhD in economics from the University of Virginia.
White House.gov. 05/12/2023.
Lisa Cook for Governor:
Lisa D. Cook took office as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on May 23, 2022, to fill an unexpired term ending January 31, 2024. Prior to her appointment to the Board, Dr. Cook was a professor of economics and international relations at Michigan State University. She was also a research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. Previously, Dr. Cook was on the faculty of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. During her time at Harvard, Dr. Cook also served as deputy director for Africa Research at the Center for International Development. Before then, she was a National Fellow at Stanford University.
From 2011 to 2012, Dr. Cook served as a senior economist on the Council of Economic Advisers under President Barack Obama. From 2000 to 2001, she served as a senior adviser on finance and development in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of International Affairs. Dr. Cook received a BA in philosophy from Spelman College. As a Marshall Scholar, she received a second BA in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University. She earned a PhD in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
White House.gov. 05/12/2023.
Adriana Kugler for Governor
Dr. Adriana Kugler serves as the U.S. Executive Director at the World Bank Group. She is on leave from Georgetown University, where she is Full Professor of Public Policy and Economics and also served as Vice Provost for Faculty. Dr. Kugler is an expert on labor markets, international economics and applied econometrics and is widely published in leading journals. Dr. Kugler was appointed Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor under the Obama-Biden Administration. Among Dr. Kugler’s professional appointments, she was a member of the Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy of the National Academies of Sciences and served on the Technical Advisory Committee of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as well as elected chair of the Business and Economics Statistics Section of the American Statistical Association.
White House.gov. 05/12/2023.
Previously, Dr. Kugler was a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and of the Center for the Study of Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University. During her academic career, Dr. Kugler has been recognized with national and international awards for her scholarly research. Dr. Kugler completed her Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley and obtained a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from McGill University with first class honors.
From Senate.gov…
Philip Jefferson for Vice Chair:
President Biden’s full statement on their confirmations:
“I applaud the Senate for confirming my superbly qualified nominees to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors on a bipartisan basis. In the past year, inflation has come down by around two-thirds, while the job market has remained historically strong, and I am confident that Dr. Jefferson, Dr. Cook, and Dr. Kugler will help continue this progress. My Administration remains laser focused on bringing costs down for families while maintaining the world-beating economic growth that America has experienced in the last two-plus years.
With the confirmation of these outstanding economists to the Federal Reserve, the American people can be confident that the Fed’s important mission remains in good hands, and it will continue working for them, not any partisan agenda.”
Dr. Jefferson will be only the second-ever Black Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Dr. Cook was the first-ever Black woman on the Federal Reserve Board, and has now been confirmed to a full 14-year term. Dr. Kugler will make history as the first-ever Hispanic American to serve on the Federal Reserve Board.
White House.gov. 09/07/2023.
Remodel Complete Tweet
From Friday…
The 39 second video is President Biden cutting the ribbon on the newly remodeled Situation Room.
NPR.org says:
The area is known as the Situation Room, and over the past year, it has been overhauled and upgraded with more than $50 million in improvements to security and capabilities, and is ready to reopen for operations.
Literally everything was torn out from the conference room, the command center called the “watch floor” that supports it, and smaller rooms around them. The renovation extended five feet underneath the space, said Marc Gustafson, senior director for the White House Situation Room.
NPR.org. 09/08/2023.
They go on to say that it had been more than 15 years since the last upgrade.
This is an Open Thread.
