Kudos to Kudlow
by Richard
Not all of television is a vast wasteland.
Winston Churchill once famously described the Balkans as an area that produced more history than they could consume locally. World War I being a case in point.
Which basically sums up my impression of the magnitude and pace of change that began with the Bear Stearns bailout in March of 2008.
Other than the global depression of the thirties, I cannot think of a time when the economic landscape has been so convulsed by the forces of change…and the sheer volume and velocity of government intervention.
I absorb as much as I can from print media and online sources, but find myself fatigued and overwhelmed at the effort.
Like trying to get a drink from a fire-hose.
So I’ve gotten into the habit of having Larry Kudlow explain it all to me on his CNBC cable business show, The Kudlow Report, broadcast 7-8 PM Eastern.
Be careful not to tune in during the prior hour, or you will be exposed to Jim Cramer, and risk being in range the next time he tosses a chair in your direction.
Fox has a new business cable channel, but its a distant second in my book. I’ve never been able to warm up to Bloomberg’s cable business channel. Too tame and bloodless for my taste.
Kudlow is a veteran, both of Washington and Wall Street…
…and he has assembled perhaps the best team of television journalists to help sift and sort the major emerging business and financial themes of the day.
What surprised me at first was the range and depth of technical discussion, involving the intricacies of how the Federal Reserve functions, along with the other regulatory apparatus of the federal government.
Of course, with a business pedigree, his tilt is towards economic freedom and less intervention, but he is careful to give the opposing viewpoint equal time during panel discussions.
Steve Moore from the Wall Street Journal is paired against Robert Reich, former Clinton labor secretary, to make the gladiatorial combat more equitable.
Senators from both sides of the aisle fight for air time on his show, and his guests run the gamut from idealistic libertarians to unvarnished socialists.
My endorsement of the show is not wholly unqualified.
Sometimes the discussion degenerates into shouting matches, and it’s a sad spectacle to see such academically and financially-pedigreed panelists reduced to such tawdry mudslinging and wrestle-mania braggadocio.
Maybe that just proves how much out of step I am with modern society.
I can remember when libraries expected patrons to be quiet. When movie audiences were hushed during the feature.
And only Marine drill sergeants could casually sprinkle profanity into everyday conversation.
July 1st, 2009 at 10:02 am
On a recent trip to Greece, during the riots, I’d watch the news nightly for a month. A portion of the news consisted of 4 invited guests, participating remotely. The screen was split into 5 sections, one with the reporter, the other 4 each with one guest. You’d expect some back and forth as issues of the day were discussed. There was no back and forth; it was a cacophony of simultaneous chatter from the get-go, getting louder and louder as people spoke over each other, name-calling included. Every single night, the same thing. Even when the guests were notable politicians, academicians, lawyers, writers, no matter.
The Kudlow report is quite tame compared to that.
Maybe there’s a correlation between rising deficit and cacophony
Greece is seriously in debt after years of spineless governments that misdirected EU subsidies to populist expenditures instead of needed structural changes; and an ill-conceived nationalistic desire to host the Olympic Games that came at a ludicrous price tag — well-run and artfully executed, but at what cost…
One can only hope that the US doesn’t go down that path…
January 20th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
tnx gr8 post
February 2nd, 2010 at 7:45 pm
I Will have to come back again when my class load lets up - nonetheless I am taking your RSS feed so I can read your site offline. Thanks.