Larry Kudlow and Mercatus Center Scholars Discuss Economic Policy

As the next director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow will deal with a wide array of economic issues. During his time as host of his own radio show and a co-host of the John Batchelor show, Kudlow has engaged with several Mercatus Center scholars on a variety of those topics.

Below are a few highlights from those conversations:

Larry Kudlow and Brent Skorup on Net Neutrality

Last July, Kudlow and Mercatus Center scholar Brent Skorup discussed the Federal Communication Commission’s 2015 “net neutrality” regulations on the John Batchelor show.

Skorup described the origins of the debate and the 1996 law announcing a US policy that the Internet should be “unfettered from Federal or State regulation.”

In 2015, the FCC broke from that successful, bipartisan approach and created intrusive Internet regulations in the name of net neutrality. As Kudlow notes in the conversation, FCC regulation too often allows large, established firms to benefit at the expense of emerging companies and new business models.

Under a new chairman, the FCC voted in 2017 to eliminate those 2015 regulations but that effort is being challenged through litigation.

Listen to the full conversation to hear more about the economics of net neutrality regulation.

Larry Kudlow and Veronique de Rugy On Steel and Aluminum Tariffs

Earlier this month, Kudlow interviewed Veronique de Rugy on the President’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Kudlow called the import taxes “a bad idea” and a “tax hike” for business users and consumers. De Rugy has noted that the proposed tariffs would hurt most Americans.

Larry Kudlow and Daniel Griswold on NAFTA

Batchelor and Kudlow interviewed Daniel Griswold on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The conversation highlighted the economic and foreign policy successes of NAFTA.

Read more: Christine McDaniel, senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center and former White House senior trade economist, wrote about the National Economic Council and what Kudlow might expect as its director in an op-ed for The Hill.

Editor’s Note: Larry Kudlow was a distinguished scholar at the Mercatus Center from 2002-2006.