Monday, April 21, 2008

K&C Quotables

Some notable quotes from Friday night's Kudlow & Company:

Good News for the Greenback? We’ve had a string of Fed governors finally come out and say that they’re uncomfortable with the level of inflation. When you get a plethora of these guys out there all saying the same thing, they’re sending a strong message. They’re saying we’re uncomfortable, and we may not give the market that extra 25 basis points at the end of the month—because we are uncomfortable with [inflation]. So that helped the dollar.
-Andy Busch, global FX strategist at BMO Capital Markets

Skousen Senses Opportunity It’s possible that we’re not out of this recession. However, [remember] Fed policy. Don’t fight the Fed. Anybody who is fighting the Fed right now – in cash, T-bills at a little bit over 1 percent – why would anyone be in cash at this point? These are tremendous opportunities. This is the time to get into the market. It’s all about globalization. Forget the U.S. economy, it’s globalization. Things have changed. Things have changed in the last ten to twenty years. The global economy is far more important. So when the U.S. catches a cold, the world does not catch pneumonia.
-Mark Skousen, financial economist & author of EconoPower

Obama & Capital Gains If Obama gets in, I think it’s a catastrophe—if he puts through the policies he’s saying. [His exchange with ABC’s Charlie Gibson on taxing capital gains] was one of the most ridiculous give-and-takes I have ever seen. It was just silly beyond belief. [Obama] almost accepted it, and then he says he wants to raise taxes on capital gains, “cause it’s fair” – and not because it will help people, not because it will provide more revenues. It’s ridiculous what he said. [Obama economic advisor] Austan Goolsbee should be priming him on this stuff. It just doesn’t make any sense.
-Arthur Laffer, supply-side economist & president of Laffer Associates

Reich Reaches Hillary Tipping Point I guess I just reached the tipping point this week, in terms of negative mudslinging by the Clinton camp. [It’s] bringing both [candidates] down. This is the old politics… Given the scale of the problems the nation now faces…this kind of petty mudslinging has got to stop. I just couldn’t stand it [anymore]…Obviously, I was not going to endorse anybody, because I’ve know the Clintons for decades. It just seemed to be inappropriate to endorse anybody. But I reached a tipping point this week…I’m sick and tired of it. I’m fed up.
-Robert Reich, former Clinton labor secretary