Copyright 2012 The New York Sun Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:19:58 -0500 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Lawrence Kudlow :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Lawrence+Kudlow admin@nysun.net (Seth Lipsky) webmaster@nysun.com en-us LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/obamas-budget-looks-dead-on-arrival-at-the-seante/87704/ Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:18:47 EST If you shake out the Obama budget in terms of bold headlines, it’s really a class-warfare, tax-the-rich budget. Layer upon layer of tax hikes are piled on successful investors, small-business owners, and corporations. The capital-gains tax goes from 15% to 24% (including Obamacare). The dividends tax goes from 15% to nearly 40%, and that’s not including the double tax on corporate profits embodied in dividends and capital gains. The Bush tax cuts for top earners are repealed. There’s the 30%... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/bernanke-emerges-as-an-issue-on-the-campaign-train/87700/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:58:32 EST Out on the campaign trail, Fed head Ben Bernanke is an unpopular guy. Governor Romney and Speaker Gingrich have both said they would replace Mr. Bernanke, not reappoint him. Congressman Ron Paul would swap the whole Federal Reserve monetary system for a gold-linked dollar, making the yellow metal legal tender. It was Governor Perry of Texas, before he dropped out of the race, who said more quantitative easing by the Fed would be “almost treasonous.” Republicans in Washington are equally... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/bernanke-gets-one-thing-right-taxes/87695/ Tue, 7 Feb 2012 16:16:01 EST For one time in a row the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, got the story right. No, it wasn’t King Dollar. It was taxes. Testifying before members of the Senate Budget Committee today, Mr. Bernanke referred to the scheduled repeal of the Bush tax cuts. He said, “If no action is taken by January 2013, there will be a very sharp change in the fiscal stance of the United States government.” Now, lest we give him too much credit, Mr. Bernanke was kind of making a Keynesian point. Why?... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/new-york/bloombergs-ambition-to-be-treasury-secretary-seen/87487/ Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:27:37 EST Mayor Bloomberg, in a radio interview on Friday, warned that high unemployment could lead to widespread rioting. That’s right. He actually said that. At a time when European cities have suffered massively from hooliganism, and at a time when U.S. towns like Philadelphia and Kansas City have suffered huge human and commercial tolls from so-called flash riots. For Bloomberg to come out with this statement is irresponsible and incendiary. But you know what? He’s got a personal agenda. This is a... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/message-to-mitt-a-rising-tide-lifts-all-boats/87690/ Fri, 3 Feb 2012 20:44:14 EST That great phrase was coined by the late Jack Kemp, who believed that growth and opportunity for all is the answer to poverty. Kemp believed it was the answer to all things economic. And he was right. The best anti-poverty program is the one that creates jobs. The answer to large budget deficits? Grow the economy, create jobs, watch incomes rise, and let the tax revenues come rolling in. Partly from Jack Kemp’s work, and partly from his own experience, Ronald Reagan believed the same thing. He... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/romney-offering-the-right-stuff-on-obama-s-crony/87665/ Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:18:21 EST Let me build on Charles Krauthammer’s great Friday column, “The GOP’s Suicide March.” Mr. Krauthammer argues that just as President Obama’s class-warfare, soak-the-rich mantra started lagging in the polls, some Republicans on the campaign trail started making the case that Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital was involved in nothing more than vulture capitalism, looting companies, and destroying jobs. Keeping class envy alive. I’m not going to name names, because everybody knows who these Republicans are... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/romney-readies-tax-reform-plan-to-deal-with-sub/87679/ Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:31:08 EST One would think that with one of the weakest economic recoveries on record, President Obama would be desperately searching for ways to promote economic growth. It is, after all, an election year. Most pundits and pollsters agree that it’s the economy, stupid. Instead, Mr. Obama used his State of the Union speech to rail on about fairness, inequality, and redistribution. The Obama strategy is simple: Tax the rich because they don’t pay enough. The problem is, they do pay enough. According to the... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/gingrich-has-chance-tonight-to-trump-interview/87661/ Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:55:34 EST Might a strong Newt Gingrich debate performance tonight trump the ABC Nightline interview with Newt’s ex-wife Marianne? Remember, the debate comes before Nightline. And the roughly 5 million to 6 million people who watch the debate will be a lot more than the roughly 2 million folks who turn on Nightline. Plus, the Nightline crowd is largely liberal, and these viewers are not going to favor Newt Gingrich. I’m not saying the ABC Brian Ross interview with Marianne isn’t something. But I’m not... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/obamas-tax-proposal-is-designed-to-come-at-me/87676/ Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:18:10 EST President Obama's proposal to increase taxes on the rich is “designed to come at me,” GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney told me this morning. In his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, Obama proposed a minimum 30% tax rate on Americans earning more than $1 million a year. The proposal — known as the “Buffett Tax” after Warren Buffett famously said his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does — was a key part of the president's populist push for "fairness" in his speech to the... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/is-romneys-bain-capital-type-of-treatment-just/87653/ Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:00:09 EST There’s a troubled company out there called U.S. Government, Inc. It’s teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. It badly needs to be taken over and turned around. It probably even needs the services of a good private-equity firm, with plenty of experience and a reasonably good track record in downsizing, modernizing, shrinking staff, and making substantial changes in management. Yes, layoffs will be a necessary part of the restructuring. A quick look at the income statement of this troubled firm... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/secret-romney-ryan-entente-bodes-well-for-gop/87647/ Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:38:45 EST While so much attention has been turned to Newt Gingrich’s catastrophically mistaken attack on Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital, free-market capitalism, investment, and profits, a potentially much more significant development occurred in the New Hampshire debate Saturday night. For the first time, Mitt Romney embraced a much bolder tax-reform plan. Under pressure from a number of supply-side conservatives (including me, and most especially the editorial-page folks at the Wall Street Journal), Mr... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/gop-beware-economy-is-moving-to-give-obama-a-leg/87639/ Fri, 6 Jan 2012 19:14:28 EST  Message to my fellow conservatives: Please don’t blame the mainstream press for the improvement in jobs, unemployment, and economic growth. Reporters are not making this up. The economy is better. It’s going to give President Obama a leg up on the election. GOP beware, and come to your senses. Take Friday’s jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nonfarm payrolls gained 200,000, and the unemployment rate slipped to 8.5% from 8.7%. It may well be that a seasonal quirk added 42,000... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/hard-hat-democrats-could-abandon-obama-as-jobs/87611/ Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:27:14 EST The payroll-tax-cut debate is not really about the payroll tax, which is a weak-kneed economic stimulant and a lackluster job creator because of its temporary nature. Without permanent incentives at lower tax rates, these rebates don’t do anything for growth and jobs. Instead, the key to understanding the payroll-tax debate is to grasp President Obama’s leftist vision of taxing successful earners (the millionaire surtax) and his obsession with clean energy at the expense of fossil fuels. These... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/mcconnell-warns-democratic-concessions-on-tax/87610/ Thu, 15 Dec 2011 11:40:59 EST The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, is warning that a Democratic plan to concede on a "millionaires’ tax," in order to get Republicans to pass an extension of the payroll tax, likely won't be enough to get an agreement. “The tax they wanted to implement on business owners was something that couldn’t pass the House and couldn’t pass the Senate,” Mr. McConnell said on the Kudlow Report last night. “So if they are giving up on that, they are giving up on something that couldn’t have... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/foreign/could-imf-morph-into-a-force-for-growth-instead/87354/ Thu, 19 May 2011 18:12:03 EST    As the IMF gets ready to choose a successor to Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who resigned following his arrest on charges that he sexually assaulted and raped a hotel housekeeper, it would be a good thing to step back for a moment and ask: What should the IMF do? More specifically, can the IMF possibly morph itself into a worldwide force for economic growth instead of Bailout Nation? Yes, it’s a powerful global economic agency. It’s also one with a very checkered past. Usually opting for austerity... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/automatic-spending-cut-looms-as-likely-best/87571/ Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:18:01 EST Instead of a super tax hike from the super-committee, a much better option for the economy and budget-cutting credibility would be to implement plan B, which is the automatic spending-cut trigger known as sequestration. The Wall Street Journal editorial on the sequester scenario shows a roughly $70 billion budget cut in 2013 and probably more in the future as the budget baseline is pulled down. A $70 billion cut would be one of the largest on record -- maybe the largest. It would show real... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/why-art-laffer-finds-newt-gingrich-so-promising/87626/ Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:32:00 EST “The purpose of economic policy is growth, jobs, and prosperity,” supply-side founder Art Laffer told me today. As such, Mr. Laffer has endorsed Newt Gingrich and the Gingrich 15% flat-tax plan, which includes the 12.5% corporate-tax reform. “It’s nothing against the other candidates,” Mr. Laffer said. “But Newt’s plan is right, and therefore endorsing him is the right thing to do.” Mr. Laffer is concerned with the fact that Mitt Romney has no tax-reform plan, and he worries that the former... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/data-show-a-stronger-economy-than-the-stock/87570/ Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:08:32 EST You wouldn’t know it from today’s stock market, which as of this writing is off nearly 200 points. But the daily numbers continue to show an economy that is stronger than most folks think. Today initial jobless claims fell to 388,000 — the lowest level in seven months. The Philly Fed manufacturing index, which translates to 53 on an ISM basis, shows a strong employment component. Earlier in the week, the index of industrial production beat estimates with an especially strong reading on business... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/gop-in-danger-of-losing-narrative-on-taxes-as/87569/ Wed, 16 Nov 2011 19:43:17 EST It would be a great tragedy if a super tax hike came out of a supercommittee compromise deal. It would do great harm to the economy — just as much harm as President Obama’s various tax-hike threats. On the Republican side, a super tax hike would irreparably split the GOP. Okay. Here’s the good news. In a CNBC interview this week, I asked supercommittee co-chair Jeb Hensarling about an idea of the Democrats to raise taxes by $600 billion to $800 billion. About $300 billion of that might be... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/big-question-now-is-whether-bernanke-will-follow/87550/ Thu, 3 Nov 2011 15:38:12 EST Will the Federal Reserve’s Ben Bernanke soon follow the European Central Bank’s Mario Draghi? In his first action as Jean-Claude Trichet’s replacement, Mr. Draghi cut the ECB target rate by a quarter% to 1.25% from 1.5%. It was a surprise. Given the hullabaloo over Greece’s bailout referendum, which is now dead in the water, and the likelihood of a new Greek government, Mr. Draghi’s liquidity addition is a modest but useful antidote to major financial stress and uncertainty in the Eurozone... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/fed-set-to-meet-on-monetary-policy-as-case/87548/ Tue, 1 Nov 2011 03:32:38 EST The Fed is meeting Tuesday and Wednesday on monetary policy. The FOMC statement will be released at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, and then Chairman Bernanke will have a news conference at 2:15 p.m. With both real gross domestic product and inflation at 2.5%, there doesn’t seem to be much of a case for new Fed quantitative easing. While unemployment is high, that’s a function of regulatory and tax obstacles — certainly not tight money. Both QE1 and QE2 have failed to bring down unemployment. There’s... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/economic-armageddon-is-dodged-as-europe-forges/87541/ Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:41:06 EST The world economy has once again dodged Armageddon. The European Union finally forged a Greek bond deal, and a rescue fund big enough to ring-fence banks and sovereign debt, in order to avoid a catastrophic, Lehman-like contagion event. At the same time, the U.S. economy moved away from the threat of recession with a third-quarter real GDP report of 2.5%. In response, stocks are soaring. We’ll live to see another day. First the American economy. Led by surging business investment of highly... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/gop-debate-in-iowa-fails-to-deliver-a-pro-growth/87613/ Fri, 16 Dec 2011 23:22:43 EST Color me cranky about this week’s Republican presidential debate in Iowa. The headline stories were about whether Newt Gingrich actually lobbied for Freddie Mac, or why Mitt Romney changed his positions on gay rights, guns, and abortion. But a GOP growth message to defeat President Obama was completely missing in this debate. It was a supply-side whiff. This election is principally about the economy and its poor performance. It’s about the slow rate of growth, the high rate of unemployment, and... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/gop-field-swings-to-pro-growth-platform/87534/ Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:43:06 EST The latest Gallup poll pegs President Obama’s approval at a new low of 41%. That adds to the thought that the winner of the GOP presidential-primary sweepstakes is going to be the next president. And inside that Republican contest, the policy pendulum is swinging toward pro-growth, flat-tax reform. A new agenda. With Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan and the announcement of a Steve Forbes-type flat tax from Governor Perry, the GOP flat-tax-reform competition is dominating the headline news. While Mr... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/economic-numbers-turn-better-albeit-only-sightly/87526/ Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:24:53 EST While investors wait to see if the Europeans will agree to a major boost in their rescue fund to backstop sovereign debt and the banks who own it, here at home the economic news has turned slightly more positive. A month ago, significant coincident economic indicators for August for nonfarm payrolls, retail sales, and industrial production all registered zero. It was a bizarre and pessimistic coincidence.  Now, a month later, the September figures are coming in better. Not fabulous, but better... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/art-laffer-calls-cains-tax-plan-far-far-better/87524/ Fri, 14 Oct 2011 17:21:06 EST Herman Cain is the only Republican presidential candidate who wants to kill the tax code. That’s right. Put a knife in it. Junk the entire system. And people are cheering as he rises in the polls in his quest for the nomination. Cain’s 9-9-9 plan is not perfect. But then again, the good should never the enemy of the perfect. Congressman Paul Ryan gives the plan a thumbs-up. Supply-side mentor Art Laffer tells me it would be “far, far better than the current system.” And Chris Chocola, president... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/editorials/why-romney-needs-gingrichs-supply-side-sizzle/87600/ Thu, 8 Dec 2011 20:06:18 EST Say what you will about the former speaker, Newt Gingrich. His philosophy, his policy proposals, his track record, his campaign, and all the rest. But the one thing you have to acknowledge about Mr. Gingrich is that he’s a sizzler. He has a way with words. He’s as good a communicator as anyone in modern politics. In my CNBC interview with Mr. Gingrich this week, he slammed President Obama’s tax-the-rich, class-warfare attack on bank’s and businesspeople. He hammered Mr. Obama, calling him a... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/new-model-to-save-european-banks-emerges/87518/ Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:17:18 EST  The 330-point stock market rally yesterday was generally linked to an expected Merkel-Sarkozy summit in a couple of weeks to nail down a new European rescue plan for bad government debt and troubled banks. But I think the more immediate cause of yesterday’s rally was the news that European leaders are rescuing the underwater bank Dexia. This bank-rescue mission looks to me like a new model to save all the European banks from the risk of catastrophic meltdown and contagion. There are some key... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/recession-is-the-outlook-despite-manufacturing/87506/ Mon, 3 Oct 2011 15:46:34 EST  The stronger-than-expected ISM manufacturing-index reading for September might normally suggest that the economy, at least for now, has dodged a recession bullet. After zero jobs and zero real consumer spending in August, which put the stalled economy on the front end of recession, the ISM number is the first major September reading. But economist Michael Darda says hold the applause: Inside the ISM, new orders and order backlogs either flat-lined or declined and remain below 50  —  the DMZ... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/christies-earned-american-exceptionalism-makes/87503/ Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:54:20 EST So just when everyone had concluded the Chris Christie matter — saying “Great speech at the Reagan Library, but he’s not gonna run for president” — the New York Post comes along with a story that says the New Jersey governor is seriously considering a 2012 run. Apparently the Reagan Library experience had a big impact on Mr. Christie, and others. He’s now being urged to go for it by Nancy Reagan, Henry Kissinger, President George W. Bush, and Barbara Bush. According to the Post story, even Mr... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/warning-by-bernanke-of-downside-risk-turns-out/87492/ Thu, 22 Sep 2011 19:07:54 EST Stocks collapsed roughly 700 points over two days after the Federal Reserve launched its “Operation Twist.” The market correctly perceives that the central bank’s plan to swap $400 billion of short-term notes for long-term bonds adds no new reserves to the financial system. So it wasn’t QE3, that’s for sure. No stimulus. In fact, with the Treasury yield curve flattening, the Fed’s sterilized asset swap actually tightened financial markets. The Fed should have listened to the GOP congressional... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/force-is-with-the-gop-as-stagflation-overcomes/87486/ Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:26:57 EST Is the economy standing on the front end of a new recession? As IMF executive director Christine Lagarde and World Bank president Robert Zoellick warn that the global economy is entering a new economic danger zone, there’s plenty to be worried about right here in the United States. The August batch of economic stats shows zero jobs and zero retail sales. Industrial production rose slightly to save us from a clean zero sweep, but it was only two-tenths of 1%. However, manufacturing registered by... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/latest-demarche-of-the-fed-gives-europe-a-tylenol/87585/ Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:26:54 EST  It’s often said that help comes to those who help themselves, but Europe can’t seem to help itself. So on Wednesday, the United States Fed came to the rescue. That rescue triggered a global stock market rally, including a near 500-point gain in the United States.  Basically, the Fed is making it cheaper for Europe to borrow dollars. This dollar backstop symbolically shows that the Fed, the European Central Bank, and other big central banks are not going to permit a 2008-type credit freeze and... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/perry-romney-swinging-against-bernanke-emerge-as/87482/ Tue, 13 Sep 2011 12:14:03 EST Watching the two GOP frontrunners in last night’s debate -- Mitt Romney and Rick Perry -- a couple of policy points jumped out at me. First, regarding the Fed, both candidates strongly supported King Dollar. This is interesting because monetary policy continues to be a GOP campaign issue. That is rare in politics, but it’s a good thing in the context of today’s sputtering economy and failed quantitative easing. For Governor Romney, who said he would not reappoint Bernanke in the last debate... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/300-point-plunge-signals-absence-of-confidence/87480/ Fri, 9 Sep 2011 18:26:43 EST Who would have really expected a 300-point stock market plunge on the day after President Obama’s so-called jobs speech? Yes, worries over new fears of a Greek default ripped through the markets on Friday. As did fears of an al-Qaeda bombing plot on the tenth anniversary of 9/11. But you can’t help but think that at least some of the stock plunge is a signal of no economic confidence in Mr. Obama’s plan. For that matter, who really expected an unbelievably large $450 billion plan? That’s way... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/america-dodges-a-super-tax-hike-as-super/87574/ Mon, 21 Nov 2011 18:42:29 EST Didn’t our Democratic friends always intend to derail the super-committee over the top Bush tax rates? You remember that $800 billion revenue number always floating around from the Democratic leaks? Well, that’s the static-revenue estimate of repealing the 35% and 33% Bush rates. Sometimes that Democratic revenue number moved up to $1.2 trillion. Well, that would include the static-revenue estimate of the 5.6% millionaire surtax. Get it? In an important sense, the whole super-committee debate... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/how-bastiat-offers-a-clue-for-obama-gop-in-wake/87465/ Mon, 29 Aug 2011 16:43:12 EST Get ready for a bunch of demand-side economists to tell you that the post-Hurricane Irene rebuilding phase is actually a good thing for future economic growth. But don’t believe it. Who has it right? Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at MFR, Inc., delivered my favorite quote on the subject to the New York Times: “If you’re in the middle of recession, you just wander around blowing up buildings, and that would be your path to prosperity. And clearly that’s not the case. It’s not the case with... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/editorials/pro-growth-strategy-emerges-in-plan-of-the-gang/87434/ Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:47:23 EST There are a lot of known unknowns about the new “Gang of Six” budget proposal. But conservatives should hold back from trashing it. Why? There’s a large, pro-growth tax-reform piece in the plan that would lower tax rates across-the-board. This is a stunning reversal of the Obama Democrats’ soak-the-rich, class-warfare campaign. The best part of the Gang of Six plan is a reduction in the top personal tax rate from 35% to a range of 23% to 29%. For businesses, the rate would drop in the same... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/house-senate-converging-on-deficit-plans/87436/ Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:36:46 EST What’s so bad about the Reid plan? The big sticking points between the House GOP leadership and Senator Reid’s latest plan are 1) the House wants two debt increases, one this year and one next year (Mr. Reid has just one increase) and 2) the House Republicans want a guaranteed balanced-budget-amendment vote. Regarding the Reid plan itself, it really looks like a Republican plan: A $2.7 trillion spending cut to raise the debt ceiling by something like $2.5 trillion, and no tax revenues. So... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/opinion/gingrich-emerges-as-the-most-interesting-figure/87561/ Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:15:52 EST There were three winners in the CNBC debate: Herman Cain, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich. Governor Perry was the obvious loser because of his memory lapse. The guy with the toughest job on Wednesday night was Herman Cain, who has been hammered by sexual-harassment charges. He needed a strong performance to put him back on message with his 9-9-9 tax plan and pro-business, free-enterprise views. I give him first prize, simply because he performed so well. He had the most to gain and the most to... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/rubio-the-next-american-century-wll-be-greater/87409/ Tue, 28 Jun 2011 11:02:37 EST Rising Senate star Marco Rubio of Florida put out a strong growth message in our interview last night. Shrink size of government, broad-based flat tax reform, roll back regulations. Balanced budget amendment, with tough spending caps. Best solution for an ailing middle class: Create jobs. He believes the 21st century can be an American century if we follow this path. There are few people more articulate than the gifted Mr. Rubio. * * * MR. KUDLOW: The debt talks are very hot. President Obama’s... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/wal-mart-effect-gives-lift-to-stock-market-after/87400/ Mon, 20 Jun 2011 17:20:42 EST The Wal-Mart victory handed down by the Supremes today is a great win for all business, and a huge defeat for frivolous class-action lawsuits. This business victory by Wal-Mart is so bullish, I believe it drove up stocks today, with the Dow finishing 76 points higher. There was no new news from Greece. Today’s stock market rally was the Wal-Mart effect. By the way, the slam-down on class-action lawsuits is also a victory for individuals. If people have a beef, go ahead and sue. But the Supreme... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/new-data-suggest-a-second-recession-will-be-kept/87391/ Tue, 14 Jun 2011 17:50:25 EST New economic stats today on retail sales from both China and America show there’s no double-dip recession out there — no matter what the bears-gone-viral may be telling you. No Armageddon. And no stock market crash either. Actually, today’s 123-point Dow gain to get back over 12,000 is a key sign that the stock correction may be over. Forward earnings at $96 a share on the S&P 500 (1,288) show a price-earnings multiple of about 13.4-times. Trailing earnings of $94 a share show a similar... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/pawlenty-emerges-from-gop-pack-with-a-plan-in/87387/ Sat, 11 Jun 2011 14:20:01 EST The former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, turned out a blockbuster economic-growth plan this past week, including deep cuts in taxes, spending, and regulations. It’s really the first Reaganesque supply-side growth plan from any of the GOP presidential contenders. And he caps it all off with a defense of optimism as he charges ahead with a national economic growth goal of 5%. That’s right: 5%. Mr. Pawlenty calls this target aspirational. Okay, fine. But deeper down, he’s basically saying... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/obama-moves-from-re-elect-to-big-trouble-as/87378/ Fri, 3 Jun 2011 18:43:58 EST  Political advantage can be fleeting. A couple of months ago, during the winter quarter, job gains looked to be picking up, unemployment was easing lower, and President Obama’s reelection hopes looked more secure. But things sure have changed. In recent weeks, a whole bunch of new economic stats have been pointing to a sputtering economy — maybe even an inflation-prone, less-than-2-percent-growth recession. Stocks have dropped five straight weeks, as they look toward slower growth, jobs, and... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/stock-market-emits-a-cry-for-help-but-is-anybody/87372/ Wed, 1 Jun 2011 19:23:25 EST With a flamboyant downgrade of the outlook for economic growth, jobs, and profits, Wednesday’s 280 point Dow plunge to launch the so-called June stock swoon is a warning shot across the bow. The Dow tanked alongside a batch of dismal economic data. The ISM manufacturing index, ADP employment, Case-Shiller home prices, and consumer confidence are all pointing to 2% growth or less, rather than the kind of 5% growth we ought to be getting coming out of a deep recession. The economy now looks like... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/gop-falling-mute-on-tax-reform-pro-growth-program/87334/ Fri, 6 May 2011 17:39:18 EST Are we headed for more political business as usual, where Republicans give up too much and get too little back in the debt-ceiling fight? Today’s papers are loaded with stories on the GOP giving up Paul Ryan’s Medicare-reform package. It’s being called “political reality.” Let me ask this: Will they also give up any attempt to slow Medicare spending in the next couple of years, at least a down-payment on the budget deficit? And I don’t see much talk anymore about tax reform as part of the new... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/editorials/three-dissenters-at-fed-signal-some-are-less-than/87449/ Tue, 9 Aug 2011 17:41:32 EST Damn the torpedoes. Up periscope. Full speed ahead. Ben Bernanke and the Fed to the rescue. In a startling move Tuesday, the FOMC announced that its zero-interest-rate target would be extended for two more years through the middle of 2013, marking the first time the target rate has ever been pegged to a date certain. After one of the most vicious market plunges in memory over the past two weeks, stocks soared 429 points on the news. And bond rates plunged, with the 10-year Treasury closing at 2... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/national/as-washington-prepares-to-shut-down-no-one-wants/87295/ Fri, 8 Apr 2011 16:30:20 EST Washington shutdown fears are sinking the United States dollar, according to some news reports. Surely there’s something to this, as investor confusion rises and confidence falls, and as Washington seems to be gridlocked over a few billion dollars. Frankly, the GOP could easily declare victory and accept a $35 billion to $40 billion spending cut for the final strokes of the 2011 continuing resolution. This kind of deal would move the domestic discretionary baseline back towards 2008. No mean... LAWRENCE KUDLOW http://www.nysun.com/editorials/ryans-budget-emerges-as-gops-growth-plan/87290/ Tue, 5 Apr 2011 16:49:32 EST Of all the discussion about Paul Ryan’s big-bang budget plan, the element I like best was caught in this Wall Street Journal op-ed title “The GOP Path to Prosperity.” In other words, it’s a growth budget. It has plenty of spending cuts, but it also has significant pro-growth tax reform. Obsessing over the debt is not by itself a policy. Advancing the economy and setting the stage for more job creation is a policy. Mr. Ryan kept an important dose of Ronald Reagan in both the spirit and reality...