Awkward moment Biden's economic adviser Jared Bernstein admits he can't explain how money works

Jared Bernstein, the Chief Economist and Economic Policy Adviser to Joe Biden, has been featured in a clip in which he struggles to explain how money works.

Bernstein was being interviewed for an upcoming documentary about the economy entitled Finding The Money.

'We all use money, and yet the questions of what is money, and where does money come from remain elusive,' the film teases in a preview. 

But it seems the answers are elusive even to Bernstein who in one particularly awkward exchange, found the question hard to answer. 

'The US government can’t go bankrupt because we can print our own money,' Bernstein began, keeping his answer straightforward at first.

Jared Bernstein, Joe Biden's Chief Economist, faced difficulties explaining money's workings in a documentary or 'Finding The Money,' despite his role as Biden's Chief Economist 

'They print the dollars so why does the government even borrow?' the interviewer then asks.

'Well, some of the language is just confusing. The government definitely prints its own money. The government definitely prints money and lends that money. The government definitely prints money,' Bernstein rambled repeatedly, as he seemingly struggled with the basic concepts.

'It then lends that money by selling bonds. Is that what that they do?', Bernstein, who does not have a formal background in economics, asked himself.

'They sell bonds and then people buy the bonds and lends the money. Yeah,' Bernstein went on as he appeared to become further confused, while attempting to reassure himself with his own answer.

Bernstein, left, was also the chief economist and economic adviser to Vice President Joe Biden during the Obama Administration in 2009

'Language and concepts can be unnecessarily confusing,' he surmised.

'I don’t get it. I don’t know what they’re talking about,' he finally admitted.

'The government, clearly prints money and it does it all the time. And the government clearly borrows. Otherwise we wouldn’t be having this debt and deficit conversation. 

'I don’t think there’s anything confusing there.' 

Bernstein was confirmed as chair of the United States Council of Economic Advisers last June.

The state of the economy is weighing on voters' minds as the November presidential campaign intensifies. 

Despite the strength of the job market, Americans remain generally exasperated by high prices, with many of them assigning blame to President Joe Biden.

Even with the April hiring slowdown, last month's job growth amounted to a solid increase, though it was the lowest monthly gain since October. 

With the nation's households continuing their steady spending, many employers have had to keep hiring to meet their customer demand.

Though the unemployment rate ticked up from 3.8 percent to 3.9 percent in April, it was the 27th straight month in which the rate has remained below 4 percent, tying the longest such streak since the 1960s.

Stubborn inflation has also seen interest rates remain high, making it even harder than usual for prospective young home buyers to get a foothold on the property ladder.