WASHINGTON: US television commentator and conservative economic analyst Larry Kudlow (pictured) will replace Gary Cohn as President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, the White House and Kudlow said, 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, said 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.
Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Adviser 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 US 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.
Kudlow, an informal adviser to Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, had also criticised 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 US 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. — Reuters
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