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Lael聽Brainard is someone to watch. She鈥檚 President Joe Biden鈥檚 top economic adviser, and until recently was vice chair of the Federal Reserve 鈥� the nation鈥檚 central bank. A Harvard-trained economist, she could someday be the Fed鈥檚 chair or U.S. Treasury secretary.聽

So we were delighted when Dr. Brainard agreed to appear at the Monitor Breakfast on June 29, the day after President Biden had delivered what was billed as a major economic address in Chicago. After some hesitation, the president has now embraced 鈥淏idenomics鈥� as the term of art to describe his plans for the economy 鈥� and a catch-all for his economic performance thus far.
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Dr. Brainard was all business at our breakfast, touting what she calls Mr. Biden鈥檚 economic achievements: low unemployment, declining inflation, and continued economic growth, despite predictions of recession. She also pitched his continuing efforts to expand the middle class.

Yet Americans still give Mr. Biden low marks on his handling of the economy; only 34% approve, according to聽. That鈥檚 a serious liability for him as he seeks reelection.聽聽focused on this seeming perception gap. The audio of the breakfast can聽聽on the Monitor鈥檚 YouTube channel.聽

After taking over as director of the White House鈥檚 National Economic Council in February, Dr. Brainard is now becoming more public in her advocacy for Mr. Biden鈥檚 record. She appeared in the White House briefing room for the first time earlier this week, and then spoke at our reporters鈥� breakfast.

We hope she鈥檒l come back, because the nation is in a critical period: Can the United States tame inflation without forcing the economy into recession, and in the process, maintain low unemployment?

It鈥檚 also worth noting that, at a time of global turmoil, Dr. Brainard brings an international perspective to the table. Her r茅sum茅 includes time as undersecretary of the Treasury for international affairs. As the daughter of a diplomat, she was born in Germany and grew up there and in Poland during the Cold War.聽

It so happens that two of my German reporter friends attended the breakfast, Annett Meiritz from the newspaper Handelsblatt and Juliane Sch盲uble from Der Tagesspiegel. After the breakfast ended, they both came right up to Dr. Brainard for a quick chat. I told them I thought she was fluent in German 鈥� or at least that鈥檚 what I had read in a聽.

Dr. Brainard demurred. 鈥淥h no,鈥� she said. 鈥淢y German is very rusty.鈥� My friends didn鈥檛 test her, but I suspect she鈥檚 better than she thinks.