The John Batchelor Show

Tuesday 8 May 2018

Air Date: 
May 08, 2018

Photo:  Larry Kudlow with his collegue Sephern Moore
 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Larry Kudlow, Director of the National Economic Council under US Pres Donald Trump.
 
Hour One
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 1, Block A: Steve Moore, Heritage and CNN; in re:  Amazing good eco n0mic stats across the board, in almost all sectors, the best in 30 years. Valerie Jarrett on CNN: all the good news is due to Obama’s policies. Btw, Trump’s approval ratings are ’way up.   Now, 3% GDP growth. Pres Trump: small businesses are the spinal cord of the American economy.    As I ravel, 90% of small-bz owners say that bz is either good or great; that they can barely find enough workers.
Still problematic: too many people on the sidelines; a bump-up in numbers of those out of the workforce. Is that because the welfare benefits are high enough that its more profitable to stay out of work?  . . . In some areas of he country, blue-collar workers are getting $25,000 signing bonuses!
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 1, Block B:  Gordon Chang, Daily Beast and multiple media, in re: Kim Jong-eun goes to China to meet Xi  (North Koreans make two trips to China in order to get one visit in DPRK of Chinese delegation. Breach of protocol.  Chinese are desperate to show that they have control.)  My concern is that China may be giving money to Kim so he doesn’t have to denuclearize.   . . . The velocity of events has picked up so much that there’s [no normal].  One theory is that North Korea is for sale and Westerners & Japan are trying to outbid China.  . . .
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 1, Block C:   Larry Kudlow, in re:  We’re going to a 3% trendline, possibly even a 4% trendline. Supply-side tax cuts, deregulation, all sorts of things that rare working. Your embassy to China with the Secy of Commerce and colleagues; I saw no negative comments.  What can we say about that first round of negotiations?  We were warned that they’d be disrespectful and insulting, but in two days of talks they were respectful, constructive, gave us practically all the time in the first meeting & limited the Chinese side to two or three minutes.
We didn’t get any clear commitments, but didn't expect to. Xi’s Economics Minister, Liu Hei, was cordial; they set the Central Bank min, he Finance and Commerce Ministers; they’ll come to DC next week to continue
My personal opinion is that China is open to a deal, and also that Pres Trump will keep his toughness going as China cannot continue to break al the rules, I tend to be optimistic, but we’ll report back in a few weeks.
Kim secretly went across the border to meet XI?  Did you sense linkage between that and economics? No.  Trump and XI are on the phone often and each speaks well of the other,
We’ve gone below 3.09% unemployment – with 5.9 million searching for works compared with 5.5 million available jobs.  The policies are pro-growth. Pres Trump has ended the wars on bz, success, optimism, for the first time in a decade. ”America is open for business.’  I think a lot of the labor supply is not well counted, that we don’t track then very well. Spirits are good and the rewards after taxes are good. . . . If the GOP has a shot in Nov, we’ve got to get the word out that the economy is growing!
..  ..  .. 
The number of unfilled jobs U.S. employers had at the end of March rose to a record high of 6.55 million, the Labor Department said Tuesday. There were just 6.59 million unemployed Americans that month, creating the narrowest gap between available jobs and those actively seeking work in nearly two decades of record keeping.
“If you’re employed and looking for a new opportunity, it’s a great time to look,” said Paul McDonald, senior executive director at staffing agency Robert Half. “If you’re unemployed, and you have skills that are current, this data bodes very well for your job search.”   https://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2018/05/08/why-its-a-good-time-to-look-for-a-job/
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 1, Block D:   Mary Kissel, WSJ, in re: London outlook on US politics. 
 
Hour Two
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 2, Block A:  Richard Goldberg, senior advisor, FDD, in re:
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 2, Block B:  Richard Goldberg, senior advisor, FDD, in re: “Iran deal: Trump breaks with allies over ’horrible, one-sided deal’”  Whose allies??   A European might take a step back and think, My companies don't like this because they were bringing in cash hand over fist by doing bz with Teheran; and Europeans don't care for Trump; but am I going to side with the number-one defender of the free world, or the number-one state sponsor of global terrorism?  Kim Jong-eun is a dictator who kills his relatives and massively starves his population.
Macron issues a statement saying “France regrets” the US withdrawal.  Why?  TO put up a front for his voters and companies, esp Total. But he’s asking US long-term commitment to troops in Syria. He’d best understand that Syria and Iran are one and the same. 
Btw, look at US allies n the Middle East: Saudis, Bahrain, Israel – all are extremely pleased with Trump’s decision.  Gulf States cd explain to Russia and others: If you want to do bz with us, you cannot do bz with Iran.
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 2, Block C:  Aaron Klein, Middle East Bureau Chief, Breitbart, in re:  Israel’s view on the Iran deal.
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 2, Block D:  Aaron Klein, Middle East Bureau Chief, Breitbart, in re: Gaza. Qataris definitively have pulled financing from Hamas.  . . . 
 
Hour Three
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 3, Block A:  Liz Peek, Fiscal Times and Fox News, in re:  Pres Trump’s goals.
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 3, Block B:  Liz Peek, Fiscal Times and Fox News, in re:  Pres Trump’s goals.
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 3, Block C:   Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.cm, in re:
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 3, Block D:  Robert Zimmerman, BehindtheBlack.cm, in re:
 
Hour Four
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 4, Block A:  Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam, by William Reeder Jr.
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 4, Block B:  Through the Valley: My Captivity in Vietnam, by William Reeder Jr.
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 4, Block C:  A Noble Cause: American Battlefield Victories in Vietnam, by Douglas Niles
Tuesday 8 May 2018/ Hour 4, Block D:  A Noble Cause: American Battlefield Victories in Vietnam, by Douglas Niles