Another hard coronavirus lockdown would have 'enormous human cost': Kudlow
'The country can't take that,' Kudlow said
Another hard coronavirus lockdown as some economists are suggesting could have an "enormous human cost," White House adviser Larry Kudlow said on Tuesday.
"This idea of more lockdowns, people just throw this out willy-nilly, forgetting the enormous human cost as well as the enormous economic cost," Kudlow told "Varney & Co." "The country can’t take that."
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Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari raised the possibility of a "hard" coronavirus lockdown on Sunday.
"I hate to even suggest it," Kashkari told "Face the Nation." "People will be frustrated by it. But if we were to lock down hard for a month or six weeks, we could get the case count down so that our testing and our contact tracing was actually enough to control it the way that it's happening in the Northeast right now. "
New Yorkers in need receive free produce, dry goods, and meat at a Food Bank For New York City distribution event at Barclays Center on July 30, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Food Bank For New York City)
Following coronavirus guidelines like "distancing and masking and hygiene" can allow schools and businesses to reopen, Kudlow said on Monday. Meanwhile, many Americans face financial hardship as their local economies are slow to reopen and lawmakers talk past each other on a possible coronavirus relief bill.
Kudlow did not seem optimistic about the chances of such a bill coming together in the near-term and spoke about what President Trump could accomplish on his own.
"An extension of the eviction moratorium, that I think can be done by executive order," Kudlow said.
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However, the administration most likely could not accomplish federal unemployment insurance enhancement on its own, he said. That's one of Congress' main disagreements.
Kudlow also pointed to signs of recovery, including the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model that predicts real GDP growth in the third quarter of 19.6%, up from 11.9% on July 31.