Hello, Larry

Most Ricochet Podcasts follow a longstanding format: A little chat with the hosts, a couple of guests, some closing thoughts, a tune, and we’re out. But when you’ve got our old friend and current White House chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow on the podcast just hours after some very strong economic news, well, you throw out your format and let Larry drive the bus. We talk to him about the economy, about the Fed, and a bit about his health (spoiler alert: he’s doing great). Also, we belly up to the Barr, and Rob Long gives his take on the current cold war between Hollywood writers and their agents.

Music from this week’s show: Hats Off To Larry by Dell Shannon

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There are 58 comments.

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  1. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Ricochet Top Guys,

    LARRY! LARRY!! LARRY!!! (Whoops, I used all caps & bold..sorry but wow, 3+ growth gets me pumped!)

    SLAMMINN!!!

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #1
  2. Peter Robinson Contributor
    Peter Robinson
    @PeterRobinson

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    Ricochet Top Guys,

     wow, 3+ growth gets me pumped!)

    SLAMMINN!!!

    Regards,

    Jim

    Dear Jim,

    As you’ll hear on the podcast, it gets Larry pumped, too. For that matter, Rob, James and I got pretty pumped ourselves.

    • #2
  3. Goldwaterwoman Thatcher
    Goldwaterwoman
    @goldwaterwoman

    How many times did you refer to Larry Kudlow as Larry Summers? Jeez guys.

    • #3
  4. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Ricochet Audio Network: Most Ricochet Podcasts follow a longstanding format: A little chat with the hosts, a couple of guests, some closing thoughts and a tune and we’re out.

    A little seltzer down your pants.

    • #4
  5. Al French, sad sack Moderator
    Al French, sad sack
    @AlFrench

    In his intro, James promises guest Larry Summers. Then, we get Larry Kudlow! Gypped!

    Actually, it was great to hear from him. He’s on of my favorite guests. Always so happy. Great podcast.

    • #5
  6. dicentra Inactive
    dicentra
    @dicentra

    DoorDash is wonderful (I use it several times a week) but you should know a few things:

    • The tip that you add in the app does not go to the drivers. They get a fixed amount per delivery. If you want to provide a tip you have to pay cash.

    • If you order a taco salad from Wendy’s you will never get all of the components of the salad. I don’t know if it’s a Wendy’s problem or a DoorDash problem but last night I got a taco salad sans chili, leaving me with a sad bowl of inedible lettuce. This after not getting the chips one time or the salsa another, so I’ve pretty much had it. Won’t try taco salad again.

    • #6
  7. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Al French, sad sack (View Comment):

    In his intro, James promises guest Larry Summers. Then, we get Larry Kudlow! Gypped!

    Actually, it was great to hear from him. He’s on of my favorite guests. Always so happy. Great podcast.

    I was supposed to fix that. Stand by.

    Update: New, Summers-less version has been uploaded. Delete the version you have and re-download the file to receive the new version.

    • #7
  8. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    Well done on the outro music. Perfect.

    • #8
  9. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Blue Yeti (View Comment):

    Al French, sad sack (View Comment):

    In his intro, James promises guest Larry Summers. Then, we get Larry Kudlow! Gypped!

    Actually, it was great to hear from him. He’s on of my favorite guests. Always so happy. Great podcast.

    I was supposed to fix that. Stand by.

    Update: New, Summers-less version has been uploaded. Delete the version you have and re-download the file to receive the new version.

    No thanks.  I like the original!

    • #9
  10. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    Well done on the outro music. Perfect.

    Glad I got something right on this show. 

    • #10
  11. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    • #11
  12. Gaius Inactive
    Gaius
    @Gaius

    Larry Kudlow seems like a really decent guy. He’s also a droner, and more than a little overused as a guest on this podcast. Sorry, skipped.

    • #12
  13. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

    Al French, sad sack (View Comment):

    In his intro, James promises guest Larry Summers. Then, we get Larry Kudlow! Gypped!

    Actually, it was great to hear from him. He’s on of my favorite guests. Always so happy. Great podcast.

    My stupid error. An absolutely daft day at the office; I was distracted. Yeti bears no responsibility.

    • #13
  14. ParisParamus Inactive
    ParisParamus
    @ParisParamus

    Love Larry Kudlow. Along with our President, he’s one of the, sadly, dwindling crew of people who keep and grace us with  the Spirit of the 1980’s; the prior sane economic era. I’m glad they—and we—survived the economic Hell of the Bush, and especially, Obama years.

    • #14
  15. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Gaius (View Comment):

    Larry Kudlow seems like a really decent guy. He’s also a droner, and more than a little overused as a guest on this podcast. Sorry, skipped.

    He hasn’t been on this show in 11 months. 

    • #15
  16. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    That was fun. And yes, the outro was perfect. Good job, Scott.

    • #16
  17. Al French, sad sack Moderator
    Al French, sad sack
    @AlFrench

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Al French, sad sack (View Comment):

    In his intro, James promises guest Larry Summers. Then, we get Larry Kudlow! Gypped!

    Actually, it was great to hear from him. He’s on of my favorite guests. Always so happy. Great podcast.

    My stupid error. An absolutely daft day at the office; I was distracted. Yeti bears no responsibility.

    Everybody makes mistakes. I thought it was funny. It makes the podcasters more h7msn for the rest of us. 

    • #17
  18. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Al French, sad sack (View Comment):

    James Lileks (View Comment):

    Al French, sad sack (View Comment):

    In his intro, James promises guest Larry Summers. Then, we get Larry Kudlow! Gypped!

    Actually, it was great to hear from him. He’s on of my favorite guests. Always so happy. Great podcast.

    My stupid error. An absolutely daft day at the office; I was distracted. Yeti bears no responsibility.

    Everybody makes mistakes. I thought it was funny. It makes the podcasters more h7msn for the rest of us.

    And That’s also why I’m keeping the original, flawed version.

    • #18
  19. James Lileks Contributor
    James Lileks
    @jameslileks

     

    Al French, sad sack (View Comment):
    Everybody makes mistakes. I thought it was funny. It makes the podcasters more h7msn for the rest of us. 

    To err is h7msn; to forgive, d3fne.

    • #19
  20. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    If we’re nitting picks, it was interesting to hear Larry refer to the Clinton administration as the third Reagan term. 

    • #20
  21. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Larry Kudlow talking about the eocnomy need s to be Schmoyohoed.

    • #21
  22. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    What a genial laugh Larry has, I’ve missed it now his podcasts are not playing on Ricochet, it’s the only bad thing about him going to the White House. I no longer get to download The Larry Kudlow Show every week either. That was a really great radio show, two hours of economics, politics and markets demonstrating how ‘free market capitalism is the best path to prosperity’.

    One thing I wished you had asked him was about spending. He sort of touched on it with his reference to George W Bush’s administration, but the supply-siders’ playbook would suggest spending should be reined in pretty soon. How does the administration plan to do that with the Democrats controlling the House? When he was at the OMB in 2017, Mick Mulvaney wrote a budget that was rejected by a Republican controlled Congress. Mulvaney pretty much shrugged when the subject came up in this recent interview. With the economy the trump card for reelection, they can’t afford even a mild repeat of 2008 in 2020.

    • #22
  23. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Mr Nick (View Comment):
    One thing I wished you had asked him was about spending. He sort of touched on it with his reference to George W Bush’s administration, but the supply-siders’ playbook would suggest spending should be reined in pretty soon. How does the administration plan to do that with the Democrats controlling the House? When he was at the OMB in 2017, Mick Mulvaney wrote a budget that was rejected by a Republican controlled Congress. Mulvaney pretty much shrugged when the subject came up in this recent interview. With the economy the trump card for reelection, they can’t afford even a mild repeat of 2008 in 2020.

    Larry also babbles about “King Dollar”, but he never ever actually wants a “harder” monetary policy. Never.

    Every one in the political class is an inflationist that just wants to get past the next election.

    The other thing is, a strong dollar that would be good for consumers would actually break the global economy right now.

    On top of that, if you actually got decent interest on your savings, it would break every single Western government. So there’s that.

    None of these guys have a plan to get out of this excessive  central bank activism and excess spending.

    Really expert discussion here. I started it, but some members way smarter than me weighed in.

    • #23
  24. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Just to be perfectly clear, I like Larry too, but I don’t agree with half of his opinions. His radio show was really good.

    • #24
  25. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Regarding the Russia stuff, definitely check  out all of the interviews on Hannity last night,  the recent McCarthy Report, and Byron York’s interview of Michael Caputo.

    If you want to hear some thoughtful stuff about Trump’s trade policy check out Kyle Bass and Steve Bannon when they are interviewed together or at the same conference. There are a whole bunch of recent ones. I know there are some hedge fund guys that think Trump is doing the right thing, but all of this stuff is over my head.

    • #25
  26. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Mr Nick (View Comment):
    One thing I wished you had asked him was about spending. He sort of touched on it with his reference to George W Bush’s administration, but the supply-siders’ playbook would suggest spending should be reined in pretty soon. How does the administration plan to do that with the Democrats controlling the House? When he was at the OMB in 2017, Mick Mulvaney wrote a budget that was rejected by a Republican controlled Congress. Mulvaney pretty much shrugged when the subject came up in this recent interview. With the economy the trump card for reelection, they can’t afford even a mild repeat of 2008 in 2020.

    Larry also babbles about “King Dollar”, but he never ever actually wants a “harder” monetary policy. Never.

    Every one in the political class is an inflationist that just wants to get past the next election.

    The other thing is, a strong dollar that would be good for consumers would actually break the global economy right now.

    On top of that, if you actually got decent interest on your savings, it would break every single Western government. So there’s that.

    None of these guys have a plan to get out of this excessive central bank activism and excess spending.

    Really expert discussion here. I started it, but some members way smarter than me weighed in.

    In my ideal world government would be limited to the ‘nightwatchman state’, but you can’t go back to laissez faire overnight. Thomas Sowell had an analogy in one of his books about a damn and water levels. A house may be so many feet above the water level that getting rid of the damn would not theoretically endanger it. Yet just destroying the damn would release enough water to flood the house before the level receded.

    The supply-siders at least offer a way of moving in the right direction without the consequences of breaching the damn. Of course, if you had already crashed you could imitate Warren Harding in 1921…

     

    • #26
  27. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Mr Nick (View Comment):
    The supply-siders at least offer a way of moving in the right direction

    Whatever that looks like I’m not sure who’s in charge of creating the political traction.

    • #27
  28. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Mr Nick (View Comment):
    The supply-siders at least offer a way of moving in the right direction

    Whatever that looks like I’m not sure who’s in charge of creating the political traction.

    Yeah that’s the rub. In the discussion you linked to Mark Camp made a good argument about government consumption, doesn’t Rand Paul’s Penny Plan have a chance of fulfilling that?

    • #28
  29. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Mr Nick (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Mr Nick (View Comment):
    The supply-siders at least offer a way of moving in the right direction

    Whatever that looks like I’m not sure who’s in charge of creating the political traction.

    Yeah that’s the rub. In the discussion you linked to Mark Camp made a good argument about government consumption, doesn’t Rand Paul’s Penny Plan have a chance of fulfilling that?

    I don’t have a big opinion on that. It’s probably a good idea.

    My main beef is three things. Fed discretion works against conservatism and libertarianism and it just grows government and bubbles. Nonpublic goods are negative value, but try to get a Republican to ever articulate that. Every single government actuarial system is a disaster; it’s just a way to steal from each other, and we need to get realistic about it. 

    There are a few guys in Congress that want to take away Fed discretion, but it’s really hard

    • #29
  30. Mr Nick Inactive
    Mr Nick
    @MrNick

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Mr Nick (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Mr Nick (View Comment):
    The supply-siders at least offer a way of moving in the right direction

    Whatever that looks like I’m not sure who’s in charge of creating the political traction.

    Yeah that’s the rub. In the discussion you linked to Mark Camp made a good argument about government consumption, doesn’t Rand Paul’s Penny Plan have a chance of fulfilling that?

    I don’t have a big opinion on that. It’s probably a good idea.

    My main beef is three things. Fed discretion works against conservatism and libertarianism and it just grows government and bubbles. Nonpublic goods are negative value, but try to get a Republican to ever articulate that. Every single government actuarial system is a disaster; it’s just a way to steal from each other, and we need to get realistic about it.

    There are a few guys in Congress that want to take away Fed discretion, but it’s really hard

    I’m with you in spirit but none of this is likely to change without a ‘crisis’ that provokes action, which takes us back to Harding in 1921 or, from my country, Thatcher in 1979 and you wouldn’t wish either situations to happen now.

    Got to fix the roof while the sun is shining though, which is why Mulvaney’s sanguine attitude perplexed me as he was one of your ‘few guys’. Perhaps it is part of the reelection plan? A few years of growth and sound economic management and they’ll be trusted to make the further changes needed? Larry certainly sounded relaxed but he’s proved in the past that he shares your concerns.

     

    • #30
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