The truth about Bidenomics

A conversation with former NEC deputy director Bharat Ramamurti

After law school and a few stints in the private sector, Bharat Ramamurti went to work for Senator Elizabeth Warren during her first year in office. He eventually left to run economic policy on her 2020 presidential campaign, before being tapped by Chuck Schumer to serve on the congressionally mandated oversight board for emergency Covid relief measures.

The next year, he was appointed Deputy Director of the National Economic Council in the White House — a clear sign of the progressive wing’s growing influence in the Democratic Party, even with Joe Biden in the Oval Office.

That’s a wing I’ve often taken issue with on this site, but Ramamurti has always been a straight-shooter in my experience, and we agree on one of the central — and, I think, underrated — progressive achievements of the Biden administration: the rapid return to full employment. This was not without its costs, but it’s had tremendous benefits that tend to get overlooked as people convince themselves it was somehow inevitable. Now that he’s out of the White House, I got to sit down with Ramamurti and talk about that, as well as the Biden industrial policy strategy and, perhaps most interesting to me personally, his insights on domestic policy priorities for progressives if the 2025 election goes well for Democrats.

As usual, the audio is for everyone with a transcript below for paid members. Members can also get a private link to subscribe to Slow Boring Audio in your podcast player.