Citadel’s Griffin: US does not have space to cut taxes, warns on tariff crony capitalism

Citadel founder Griffin spoke in an interview with Bloomberg Television at the Economic Club of New York:

In brief:

• have to put the fiscal house in order, warns on growth of national debt
• US doesn’t have room for tax cuts, “There’s a real question about where do we need to raise taxes to start to put our house in order.”
• got to get productivity growing
• need to look at cutting spending as well

On tariff policy, (Trump has pledged to impose a 10% or 20% tariff on all imported goods, and 60% or higher on those from China):

• “I am gravely concerned that that rise of tariffs puts us on a slippery slope towards crony capitalism”
• tariffs a short-term benefit for domestic companies
• in the long term harm productivity
• tariffs will ultimately hurt the US economy
• “Now you’re going to find the halls of Washington really filled with the special interest groups and the lobbyists as people look for continued higher and higher tariffs to keep away foreign competition, and to protect inefficient American businesses that have failed to meet the needs of the American consumer”

Here’s a quick vid for more

This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.