While some argue an economic “upshift” is coming, former CNBC anchor and economist Larry Kudlow doesn’t see it.
Following the announcement that 192,000 jobs were added in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) on April 4, Larry Kudlow, poured cold water on expectations of “this big surge this year.” Until his show ended a week earlier, Kudlow hosted CNBC’s “The Kudlow Report.”
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Kudlow, a former chief economist for Bear Stearns who worked in the Reagan administration, criticized federal meddling in the economy, saying that it was preventing the business investment needed for a strong recovery.
He brought up the “body of thinking on the Street ... that expects a real upshift, okay a real upshift in the economy” but said “I don’t see this big surge this year.” “Where’s this surge gonna come from in the economy?” he asked.
According to Kudlow, the “incredible uncertainty about ObamaCare and its taxes and regulations” and “the fact that these guys in Washington will not abolish, abolish or at least reform, the corporate tax,” is holding the economy back.
When the free market is hampered by those things, he said business investment cannot sufficiently support the economy.
Kudlow did point to some strength coming from the energy industry. CNBC contributor Rick Santelli, made famous for a rant that inspired the Tea Party, said “it’s amazing our economy is doing this good considering everybody driving it is holding the steering wheel [and looking in the opposite direction].”
Kudlow responded by praising American energy, saying “If it weren’t for the energy revolution. If it weren’t for the fracking revolution, we would be in even worse shape.”
