Second stimulus check: 4 July delay to payment negotiations
The United States National Economic Council Director, Larry Kudlow, has spoken about President Trump's recovery plan and how the decision may be a while away.
Speaking on Fox Business, the US National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow provided an insight into the economic recovery, and suggested that a second payment may still be some time off, with negotiations possibly not to restart until after the 4 July celebrations.
Stimulus talks on hold, says Kudlow
Asked whether a second stimulus package was required, something that President Donald Trump says is likely, with the economy appearing to be recovering earlier than expected - after going into recession in February - the response was not certain.
“One of the reasons we slowed down the negotiations, which I reckon they’ll resume after July 4 holiday weekend,” Kudlow began, “was because we wanted to assess the numbers.
“Today’s [jobs] number was a very pleasant surprise, certainly to the private sector and even to us in office. So maybe there are more very pleasant surprises, so we have to evaluate,” he continued.
“I, myself, think we need to move from rescue and assistance to more long-term economic growth incentives. For example, the president mentioned payroll tax holidays for the workforce, he talked about capital gains, he talked about tax breaks for restaurants, entertainment, sports contests, he’s talked about tax breaks for tourism. Those were the hardest hit areas… so we’ll be looking at assessing that as time goes by.
“I think we need less rescue and more incentive, so it pays back more after tax and after regulation. It pays more to work, to invest and to take risk.”
Trump vs Biden contrast
Kudlow made reference to the surprise May jobs report being due to around three million temporary unemployed returning to work, and looked ahead to a potential situation if President Trump did not win re-election in November.
“If he doesn’t win re-election, and Joe Biden wins, while continuing his path to the left… Given the policies he has discussed, the stock market will be slammed and the economic recovery post-pandemic will not pan out.
“I think you will have a very clear contrast between growth policies from President Trump and, frankly, recessionary policies from Vice-President Biden.”
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