Larry Kudlow: US economic recession isn’t happening
National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow on the December jobs report, the U.S. economic outlook, Federal Reserve policy, the markets and the state of China's economy.
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Friday told FOX Business that the United States is on an optimistic path and the “blowout” December jobs report will “raise the animal spirits” which have been too pessimistic in his opinion.
“We have strong growth, strong jobs and no inflation. That is a terrific optimal situation for our country or any country to be in and I hope the Central Banks take note of this” he said during an interview on “Varney & Co.” “It doesn’t get any better than this and I would encourage people to reconsider their pessimism.”
The U.S. economy added 312,000 jobs in December, blowing past expectations. It was the biggest jump since February and Kudlow said may lead to upper revisions in the gross domestic product (GDP) forecast which is at 2.6 percent for the 4Q, as tracked by The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow.
While U.S. stocks jumped Friday, the markets are off to a rocky start for 2019 after the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 plummeted more than 9 percent each in December, the worst performance in 87 years.
“Let me just say as a matter of overview because of the stock market correction… there’s an awful lot of pessimism around including the U.S. and the U.S. economy and there’s a lot of loose talk in my view… without hard facts about a U.S. recession,” he said during an interview on “Varney & Co.” “And I say no. There is no recession coming. There is no recession in sight.”
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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday participated in a discussion with former Fed Chairs Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke at the American Economic Association and Allied Social Science Association 2019 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. Powell indicated the Fed would be “patient” in assessing the economy.
Kudlow said that he would like Powell to acknowledge that “they are realizing their mandate,” which “is essentially full employment,” low stable domestic prices, a decreasing inflation rate and business supply side expansion due to President Trump’s tax cuts.