Sean Hannity tries to lure Art Laffer out of retirement to lead the recovery
On Monday, Fox News’ Sean Hannity took to the airwaves to call on President Donald Trump to form an economic recovery task force and suggest that economist Art Laffer, specifically, be appointed.
On Tuesday, Hannity had Trump on his show and asked him about forming a recovery task force, while referring obliquely to Laffer. Trump responded by calling Laffer a “great man, great economist” and praised the 79-year-old’s youthful looks.
The sequence has set off fevered speculation — and in some quarters, consternation — that Laffer, who made his name in the 1980s as Ronald Reagan’s guru of supply-side economics, would come out of retirement to lead the administration’s recovery response.
“Art Laffer has bad ideas that are even worse in a pandemic,” tweeted Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, a Democrat, on Thursday afternoon. “He thinks we should cut salaries and tax nonprofits. It is a very crazy time to put someone like this in charge of economic policy.”
Such worries may be premature. Reached by phone at his home in Kentucky, Laffer told POLITICO he has not been contacted by the Trump administration about serving on a recovery task force, formally or otherwise — though he said he has seen the clip of Trump praising him on Fox News.
"That's about the biggest outreach I’ve gotten, is clicking on ‘Hannity,’" he said.
Earlier this week, Laffer spoke to Reuters about his ideas for the recovery, which the outlet summarized as “tax nonprofits. Cut the pay of public officials and professors. Give businesses and workers who manage to hold on to their jobs a payroll tax holiday to the end of the year.”
Laffer said he mentioned his thinking on a payroll tax holiday to White House economic advisor Larry Kudlow about a week ago, and spoke to Trump roughly two weeks ago about the economic response to the virus, which he has publicly criticized.
"I think the first go was flawed," he said.
Laffer said he remains in regular touch with Kudlow, a close friend, but that their conversations are generally personal in nature, and not policy focused.
Meanwhile, although Trump has signaled support for the idea of a recovery task force, the latest indications are that the White House approach to reopening the economy remains fluid for now.
"There's no formal structure," Kudlow told reporters at the White House on Thursday afternoon. "There's nothing formal going on."
Laffer said he is not angling for an appointment but would be happy to serve on a task force, if one were to be convened.
“If I'm asked to do something,” he said, “Why wouldn’t I?"
