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Trump Chooses 'Insufferable Wall Street Hack' Larry Kudlow as Top Economic Adviser

The fact that Kudlow's economic assessments are "usually wrong and frequently absurd" doesn't seem to have bothered Trump, who reportedly loves how Kudlow projects on television. (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/cc)

Trump Chooses 'Insufferable Wall Street Hack' Larry Kudlow as Top Economic Adviser

"Trump likes to watch many hours of television each day and believes that cable television is a good way to gather information, so it's natural that Kudlow would seem to him to be an authority on economic matters."

Out with a former Wall Street executive, in with an "insufferable Wall Street hack."

"Larry Kudlow is a clown. His 'ideas' have been repeatedly discredited. He is not interested in actually making the economy work better for ordinary people. I guess he's perfect for Trump's NEC."
--Michael Lindon, Roosevelt Institute

Larry Kudlow--a right-wing television personality, former Reagan aide, and fervent believer in trickle-down economics--confirmed on Wednesday that he has accepted President Donald Trump's offer to replace Gary Cohn as director of the National Economic Council.

The fact that Kudlow's economic assessments are "usually wrong and frequently absurd"--for example, his insistence in 2007 that there would be no recession the very same month the recession began--doesn't seem to have bothered Trump, who reportedly loves how Kudlow projects his authority on air.

"Trump, rather famously, likes to watch many hours of television each day and believes that cable television is a good way to gather information, so it's natural that Kudlow would seem to him to be an authority on economic matters," notedVox's Matt Yglesias on Wednesday. "His ability to actually provide high-quality economic policy advice to the president seems more questionable."

Like Cohn, Kudlow opposes tariffs, but he is a fervent believer in the Trump administration's deregulatory efforts and massive corporate tax cuts, which he helped shape as an informal White House adviser.

In response to news that Kudlow will soon be Trump's top economic adviser--he does not have to be confirmed by the Senate--critics highlighted just a tiny portion of his "spectacular record of wrongness."

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