Kudlow’s best and worst calls — from no recession to Trump bump

Bloomberg News

President Donald Trump has picked CNBC commentator Larry Kudlow as the director of his National EconomicCouncil, replacing Gary Cohn. Mr. Kudlow told the Wall Street Journal that he accepted

Mr. Kudlow’s media career, including a column called “Kudlow’s Corner,” leaves a long trail of forecasts for the U.S. economy, some of which proved accurate and others that fell short. He’s supported much of Mr. Trump’s agenda but criticizedsome key elements of it.

Here’s a collection of key comments:

2007-09 financial crisis

In 2005, he said “all the bubbleheads” looking for a housing-price crash in Las Vegas and Naples, Fla., and the wider economy, would be proven wrong.

By December 2007, the month the National Bureau of Economic Research later dated the start of the recession, he was arguing there was no recession and that the “Bush boom continues.”

“The pessimistas are a persistent bunch,” he said.

Inflation

He predicted in 2010 that Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen would spur higher inflation, which didn’t happen.

In 2014 he argued lower oil prices are unambiguously good — versus the Fed’s and most economists’ view that there are winners and losers to lower oil prices as the U.S. has becomeabiggerproducer. Tax cuts

In December, he said Mr. Trump’s tax overhaul will lead to 3 to 4 percent growth, more optimistic than most forecasts, and said the president is on the side of the “growth angels.” He said in February that a recovering economy could push long-term interest rates beyond3.5 percent.

Immigration

In 2015, he called for a halt to immigration, changing his position, he said, because of national security concerns: “Sealthe borders,” he wrote.

Trade

He criticized Mr. Trump’s trade agenda before his election and more recently labeled his tariffs as tax hikes and prosperity killers.

He’s joined other economists in warning they put at risk 5 million jobs in industries that use steel.

The dollar

He has argued the U.S. needs a strong dollar policy.

The Trump market