DEFICIT/FEDERAL RESERVE/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser said he hoped the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates ‘very slowly,’ breaking with a 25-year White House precedent of generally refraining from commenting on monetary policy. Lawrence Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, made the comments Friday [6-29-18] morning during an interview on the Fox Business Network in which he extolled the impact of the tax cuts enacted six months ago…Mr. Kudlow also said he expected the tax-overhaul legislation would raise economic growth and federal revenues to offset lower receipts from the rate cuts. The U.S. government’s budget deficit ‘is coming down. And it’s coming down rapidly. Growth solves a lot of problems,’ he said. There is no evidence that growth is outpacing government debt. In May, the deficit rose to its highest level in 5½ years, reaching 3.8% of gross domestic product, or $765 billion, over the prior 12-month period. That was up from a deficit of $611 billion, or 3.2% of GDP, in May 2017. The tax cuts won’t generate enough growth to pay for themselves and will add about $1 trillion to budget deficits over a decade, according to official estimates from the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.”
–Nick Timiraos, “Kudlow Says White House Hopes Fed Will Raise Rates ‘Very Slowly’,” The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2018 4:19 pm