All good things, as they say, must come to an end and tonight, Im afraid, will mark the final installment of Larry Kudlows eponymous show The Kudlow Report on CNBC. I had long been a fan of Larry from his days on The McLaughlin Group, when the sum total of political commentary on television was, mercifully now that I think about it, reserved for Sunday morning. . . . I always admired Larrys unapologetic defense of free markets and, to be frank, his style. He always looked, dressed, and spoke like a Wall Street guy should, I thought. I have considered a great blessing to have become friends with him and for his willingness to support my development as an economist and as a Wall Street professional as well as to shape my thoughts on the way markets and the economy work.
Perhaps weve gotten along so well because he too started his life as a Democrat. For me that changed after spending precisely one semester in Marion Barrys Washington D.C. For Larry, that seemed to change after he began his career on the open market desk of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and, after a stint on Wall Street, became the associate director for economics and planning in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in the first Reagan administration. He really became a star when he rejoined Bear Stearns as its Chief Economist in 1987 and his association with The McLaughlin Group flourished. Eleanor Clift never saw it coming.
We all stumble, of course, and its doubly hard to stumble publicly. Larrys ability to craft a second career as a journalist and remain a fixture on CNBC for more than 12 years was due, in my view, to his intelligence, his unflagging optimism about this country, and his commitment to his Catholic faith and to his wife Judy. It all started in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 with America Now which he co-hosted with Jim Cramer. That show morphed eventually into The Kudlow Report and has remained a regular stop for those who intersect at the countrys two major power centers Washington and Wall Street ever since. For those who doubt the power of an individual voice to have an influence, it should be remembered that Larry almost single-handedly gave President Bush the intellectual cover to cut taxes on both dividends and capital gains at a time when it was a politically unpopular. (While there may be questions about priorities, I have yet to hear a good economic rationale for the double taxation of dividends.) Commented The New York Times at the time, All summer long on his program, which is watched by White House officials (although not President Bush), Mr. Kudlow hammered at the idea of dividend tax cuts. At the same time, conservative economists kept up the pressure on the White House. What was most significant about the tax cuts on dividends and capital gains at the time, was not only the fact that the rates were lowered but they were made equal, significantly diminishing the incentive for executives to seek capital gains over dividends. Larry will remain a contributor at CNBC and if someones awake over there theyll have him recreate Lou Rukeyesers Wall Street Week in his own image. In thinking about Larrys career I am reminded of Teddy Roosevelts famous words:
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
Keep up the good fight my friend.
I didn’t recognize his name-—now I know why. (I watch very little tv, and certainly not the “news” shows.)
Was he pushed out?
How was he on CNBC for 9 years and started in 2009? Is it 2018 already?
Is Obama still President?
Lawrence Kudlow is a CNBC senior contributor.
Previously, Kudlow was anchor of CNBC's prime-time program "The Kudlow Report" (7 p.m. to 8 p.m. ET).
He is also the host of "The Larry Kudlow Show," which broadcasts each Saturday on WABC Radio and is syndicated nationally by Citadel Media. Kudlow is a nationally syndicated columnist. He is a contributing editor of National Review magazine, as well as a columnist and economics editor for National Review Online. He is the author of "American Abundance: The New Economic and Moral Prosperity."
During President Reagan's first term, Kudlow was the associate director for economics and planning, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, where he was engaged in the development of the administration's economic and budget policy.
He is the recipient of numerous awards, including Extraordinary Commitment Award from St. Patrick's Church of Redding, Conn.; Bishop's Humanitarian Award from the Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens; Humanitarian Award from Pregnancy Care Center of New Rochelle, N.Y.
In addition, Kudlow received the Spirit Award from Hazelden Foundation of Center City, Minn.; Exemplary Achievement Award from Covenant House of New York; Ethical Angel Award from the Guardian Angels of New York; the Reagan Great Communicator Award from the New York Young Republicans Club; Discovery Award from Sacred Heart University; Visionary Award from Council for Economic Education.
Kudlow received an honorary degree (Doctor of Laws) from Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J., in 2009. He is on the Board of Directors of Hazelden New York, Mountainside Treatment Center, Catholic Cluster School of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn., and a former Fordham University Board of Trustees member.
Kudlow is CEO of Kudlow & Co., LLC, an economic research firm. His blog, Money Politics, can be found at kudlow.com.
He was formerly chief economist and senior managing director of Bear Stearns & Company. Kudlow started his professional career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he worked in open market operations and bank supervision.
Kudlow was educated at the University of Rochester and Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. --- CNBC
Kudlow is a protege of Art Laffer and a reliable proponent of supply side economics.
Good wishes Larry, whatever you do next. We could use more like you. We didn’t agree on every issue, but you believe in America and capitalism and you weren’t agraid to say so every day.
Making Robert Reisch say your motto out loud and then playing it over and over was fabulous.
If congress was full of Kudlows we’d be a hell of a lot better off.
His debates with Eleanor Clift on MacLaughlin were classic.
The heavyweights are all leaving CNBC. Hmmmm...
He was big on Shamnesty. Won’t be missed here.