Trump picks TV commentator Kudlow to succeed Cohn as economic adviser

[webfact]

Trump picks TV commentator Kudlow to succeed Cohn as economic adviser

By Jeff Mason and Makini Brice

 

FILE PHOTO: Economic analyst Lawrence "Larry" Kudlow appears on CNBC at the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 7, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. television commentator and conservative economic analyst Larry Kudlow will replace Gary Cohn as President Donald Trump's top economic adviser, the White House and Kudlow said on Wednesday, adding another loyalist to Trump's inner circle.

 

Kudlow, a Republican who served as an economic adviser to former President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s and also worked on Wall Street, is an ardent advocate of "supply side" economic policies that focus on cutting taxes and reducing regulations.

 

Kudlow, 70, told Reuters that Trump offered him the job on Tuesday evening and he accepted. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders confirmed that Trump had offered him the position. A formal announcement could come as early as Thursday.

 

Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, said investors on Wall Street generally viewed the pick positively because of Kudlow's Washington experience and his policy views.

 

"He's generally regarded to be more of a free trade advocate than (White House adviser Peter) Navarro or the others," Zaccarelli said.

 

"Larry Kudlow is very much a free trader," said Stephen Massocca, senior vice president at Wedbush Securities in San Francisco. "This shows that (Trump) wants to hear the other side of the argument as well."

 

Kudlow, a CNBC contributor, has acknowledged ups and downs in his life, having been addicted to drugs and alcohol before getting sober more than 20 years ago.

 

The NEC director can have wide influence over the president on a variety of issues from steering economic policy to offering guidance on whom to choose for open positions at the U.S. Federal Reserve.

 

Cohn, a Democrat who was seen as a moderating influence on the president's nationalist economic instincts, announced his resignation last week after a disagreement over Trump's decision to impose steep tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium.

 

'CHINA HAS EARNED TOUGH RESPONSE'

 

Kudlow, an informal adviser to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, had also criticized the president's decision, saying tariffs would harm steel-consuming producers. Earlier this month, he was one of three authors of an article that argued such tariffs were akin to sanctions on the United States itself.

 

During an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, he said he was relieved that some countries would get exemptions from the tariffs, did not think they would hurt the broader U.S. economy, and believed China deserved to face tough action over trade.

 

"China has not played by the rules for a long time. ... I must say, as somebody who doesn't like tariffs, I think China has earned a tough response," he said, adding he hoped a coalition of countries could act against China on trade.

 

Kudlow also said a strong and stable dollar was important for U.S. economic health and that he had no reason to believe Trump disagreed. He echoed his future boss' views that the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico needed fixing and said the European Union had "very bad protectionist policies."

 

His appointment comes as Trump increasingly seeks to surround himself with like-minded advisers.

 

Cohn's exit and the dismissal of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have cleared the way for Trump to elevate advisers who are more inclined to implement his campaign promises ahead of congressional elections this year.

 

The president, who has described Kudlow as a longtime friend, hinted on Tuesday morning that he was likely to give him the job. He said Kudlow had "come around" to view tariffs as a useful tool for renegotiating trade deals.

 

Kudlow's television credentials may help him with one part of the NEC job - trying to win over the public on the president's economic policies, including the White House's view of the recently enacted tax overhaul as a major economic success.

 

(Additional reporting by Timothy Ahmann in Washington and Sinead Carew and April Joyner in New York; Editing by Paul Simao and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-03-15

[Boon Mee]

Excellent choice. 

A solid 'supply sider' is the best to advise DJT. 

[Jingthing]

Another brilliant "trump" pick. God help us because the republicans won't. 

Quote

Trump’s New Economic Adviser Lawrence Kudlow Has Been Wrong About Everything for Decades

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/new-trump-economist-kudlow-has-been-wrong-about-everything.html

Edited March 15, 2018 by Jingthing

[blazes]

Whenever it has been my misfortune to surf past this guy as he was speaking  and I stopped to listen for five minutes or so, I always thought he was a buffoon.

 

Well, he is now in the right place....

[Darcula]

Right, TheBestPeople™ are now being poached from the fake news media.

 

 

[KMartinHandyman]

Can Kudlow make his King Dollar a reality?

[Ulic]

28 minutes ago, KMartinHandyman said:

Can Kudlow make his King Dollar a reality?

King dollar, King dollar, King dollar. That's all I hear from this guy. We shall see what comes to pass.

[spidermike007]

Tiny DT. The art of moving America backwards, and lowering the quality of life for the average American. 

The art of I cannot make a deal to save my life. 

The art of losing talent in droves, and replacing them with sycophantic fools, devoid of talent or experience. Like The appointment of Lynne Patton, a wedding planner and longtime Trump family associate, to head the Housing and Urban Development's office for New York and New Jersey, and the talk show host that he just appointed as a chief economic advisor, because he talk smooth and looks good on TV. Good one Don.

The art of not being able to fill vacancies, and leading a nation, without the help of key appointees. The Trump administration will usher in the second quarter of its presidential term with hundreds of vacancies still left to fill in departments throughout the administration. According to the Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service, only 241 key positions requiring Senate confirmation — out of 633 — have been confirmed as of Jan. 18, with 244 positions still without a nominee. The 633 key positions are a small portion of over 1,200 total positions requiring Senate confirmation, the Post noted. Trump’s sluggish staffing stands in stark contrast to his predecessors. According to the Post, Trump had 301 total confirmed nominees by Jan. 18, as compared with 452 confirmations by former President Barack Obama, 493 by George W. Bush and 471 by Bill Clinton at the same point in their terms. 

 The art of attempting to lead a nation, while being infected with the thinnest skin of a world leader, in history. 

The art of not having a diplomatic bone in his body, and destroying long held alliances, with hate, hubris and a horrible lack of intelligence, vision and talent.

[jobwolf]

4 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Another brilliant "trump" pick. God help us because the republicans won't. 

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/03/new-trump-economist-kudlow-has-been-wrong-about-everything.html

And then surprise, surprise, the Democrats are back in Power.

Idiot's running the Lunatic asylum.

[blazes]

5 minutes ago, jobwolf said:

And then surprise, surprise, the Democrats are back in Power.

Idiot's running the Lunatic asylum.

Well, at least you agree that it's a "lunatic asylum" in Washington, so that includes the Trump and his a$$-lickers in the Republican Party....

[dunroaming]

8 hours ago, Boon Mee said:

Excellent choice. 

A solid 'supply sider' is the best to advise DJT. 

Yes an excellent choice.  Making absolutely sure that Trump continues to surround himself with  the worst of the worst.  Who would expect anything else from the moron in chief.  At least Trump is consistent in his lunacy.

[Skeptic7]

Trump's picks have been horrendous...save for Tillerson (now fired) and Kudlow. Larry Kudlow is an extremely intelligent man, who knows his economics. Have watched him on CNBC for 2 decades. While I don't agree with all of Kudlow's ideas...for the most part, he is a solid choice and much better than other possibilities. 

 

On the downside...Kudlow fits right in and relies too much on silly "god" platitudes. He said something to the effect of...regardless how this turns out, it will be god's will.  

[Jingthing]

The best I can say about this pick is that it could have been even worse ... 

[LydiaConners]

52 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Trump's picks have been horrendous...save for Tillerson (now fired) and Kudlow. Larry Kudlow is an extremely intelligent man, who knows his economics. Have watched him on CNBC for 2 decades. While I don't agree with all of Kudlow's ideas...for the most part, he is a solid choice and much better than other possibilities. 

 

On the downside...Kudlow fits right in and relies too much on silly "god" platitudes. He said something to the effect of...regardless how this turns out, it will be god's will.  

 Kudlow predicted Clinton's tax increases in 1994 would tank the economy.

When that didn't happen he wrote that he always considered the 90's Reagan's 3rd term.

He predicted Bush tax cuts would pay for themsleves

He derided people who said housing was a bubble  in the 2000's as "bubbleheads

In 2007 he said there was no crash coming.

In 2008 he said the worst was over. Then Lehman collapsed

In 2008 he also claimed that the housing market had hit bottom.

He now claimis that the Trump tax cuts will increase economic growth rate to 5%

 

 

 

 

[Skeptic7]

36 minutes ago, LydiaConners said:

 Kudlow predicted Clinton's tax increases in 1994 would tank the economy.

When that didn't happen he wrote that he always considered the 90's Reagan's 3rd term.

He predicted Bush tax cuts would pay for themsleves

He derided people who said housing was a bubble  in the 2000's as "bubbleheads

In 2007 he said there was no crash coming.

In 2008 he said the worst was over. Then Lehman collapsed

In 2008 he also claimed that the housing market had hit bottom.

He now claimis that the Trump tax cuts will increase economic growth rate to 5%

Solid info that needed a source of reference, so here it is...

http://time.com/money/5197470/trump-pick-kudlow-predictions/

[Srikcir]

Kudlow is an odd choice considering Trump replaced Gary Cohn because of his free-trade advocacy. 

Kudlow:

• One of the ironies of trade protectionism is that tariffs and import quotas are what we do to ourselves in times of peace and what foreign nations do to u‎s with blockades to keep imports from entering our country in times of war.
• But now we are imposing sanctions on our own country, putting up tariffs supposedly to make Americans more prosperous.  If ever there were a crisis of logic, this is it.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/03/tariffs-are-taxes/

So why did Trump select Kudlow?

"He [Kudlow] now has come around to believing in tariffs as a negotiating point."

Why did Kudlow accept?

Trump will learn.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/why-trump-nominated-kudlow-replace-cohn-economic-adviser-n856651

The truth?

Trump can't find anyone else who would be as delusional about the success of Trump's foreign economic policy. Kudlow wants White House credentials to promote himself.

 

[jerojero]

Another retard who will be in over his head. Just like Trump trying to get President, and failing miserably. God save the USA because Trump and his idiot Appointees surely won't.