Kudlow Supports $700 Billion Bailout, Unless It Involves Government Intervention
Ahh how Larry Kudlow wrestles with his endorsements. On the one hand, he doesn’t see how the government caused the credit crunch through its meddling and hopes of a bailout (now confirmed). On the other, he knows politicians always screw up the economy. Thus he utters the following ridiculous statement:
If the bailout bill allows executive pay-caps and government ownership warrants for all buying or selling institutions, I must withdraw my support for the bill.
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So it would be stupid for Congress to write this kind of thing into the bill. It would go beyond France into pure socialism. It would represent a huge first step into government interference everywhere. And it would sink New York way down the list of world financial centers. London and Hong Kong would pass us by in the blink of an eye.
Larry–can I call you Larry?–we took the “huge first step into government interference everywhere” a long time ago. And if you just meant, relative to the modern status quo, it’s still true–we took huge first steps starting in September 2007. And at the time, as you may recall, a few codgers warned that the moves wouldn’t solve the underlying problems, and that the government would have to keep upping the ante.
