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CNN Live Sunday
Interview With Peter Navarro
Aired December 08, 2002 - 17:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats are wasting little time weighing in on Friday's shakeup in the Bush administration. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and the president's top economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey lost their jobs.
But sources tell us the administration already has Lindsey's replacement, former investment banker Stephen Friedman. We wanted to know what that means for Americans so we asked University professor and author Peter Navarro to join us. He's well-versed on the economy and he even went to school with Lawrence Lindsey -- good afternoon sir.
PETER NAVARRO, BUSINESS PROFESSOR, UC IRVINE: Thank you Carol, how are you?
LIN: I'm doing just fine. I'm just wondering; have you spoken to Larry Lindsey and how did he handle this news?
NAVARRO: Well, he handled it back in September by starting looking for a job when all the staff people left -- this is no surprise. The economic policy of the Bush administration has been a disaster and by the way, this six percent unemployment rate shows it.
LIN: Well what do you think of Stephen Friedman, then?
NAVARRO: Well, the thing I like about Stephen Friedman, knowing nothing about him other than he's Robert Rubin's former partner -- Robert Rubin in the Clinton administration did a fantastic job...
LIN: Former Treasury Secretary.
NAVARRO: ... and he -- he did a wonderful job -- if you can't get Rubin, I guess Friedman's a good choice. The bigger problem here, however, is that the economy is running into a very, very hard time now and I'm not sure it's going to get over the hump before we go back down and the unemployment rate goes up.
LIN: You know it's interesting that the Bush administration is fishing on Wall Street for the replacements for Secretary of Treasury and economic policy adviser. When you -- when you take a look at the Bush administration's plan -- I mean, how is that they're going to get back confidence in this economy -- do you think they are going to emphasize boosting stocks or do you think they're going to focus, or should they focus, on another tax cut?
NAVARRO: Very good question, Carol. Here to me is the big picture. You go the White House, you got the Federal Reserve and you've got the Congress all acting very entrepreneurial in competition over economic policy rather than cooperatively and the result is a mess. The Federal Reserve is reacting too slow because of that and worst of all the Congress is not exercising fiscal restraint; that's kept business executives on the sidelines and business executives will be the key to this recovery.
LIN: All right Professor, I'm going to elevate you to either Secretary of Treasury or the new Economic Policy Adviser for the purposes of this interview. What would you do? What is your recommendation to the Bush administration? Tax cuts -- you know -- privatizing Social Security? What is going to get them on track for the election in 2004?
NAVARRO: My recommendation isn't a policy one; it's an institutional one. You have to bring the White House, the Federal Reserve, and the Congress together at a high level and have them embark on what is a coordinated policy rather than a confederacy and a disparate policy right now. That's the most important thing -- these agencies must talk with one another.
LIN: All right, thank you very much. Peter Navarro. Good to see you.
And still ahead this hour, wild fires out side one of the world's largest cities and some pretty modest heroes. The full report when we come back.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 8, 2002 - 17:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats are wasting little time weighing in on Friday's shakeup in the Bush administration. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and the president's top economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey lost their jobs.
But sources tell us the administration already has Lindsey's replacement, former investment banker Stephen Friedman. We wanted to know what that means for Americans so we asked University professor and author Peter Navarro to join us. He's well-versed on the economy and he even went to school with Lawrence Lindsey -- good afternoon sir.
PETER NAVARRO, BUSINESS PROFESSOR, UC IRVINE: Thank you Carol, how are you?
LIN: I'm doing just fine. I'm just wondering; have you spoken to Larry Lindsey and how did he handle this news?
NAVARRO: Well, he handled it back in September by starting looking for a job when all the staff people left -- this is no surprise. The economic policy of the Bush administration has been a disaster and by the way, this six percent unemployment rate shows it.
LIN: Well what do you think of Stephen Friedman, then?
NAVARRO: Well, the thing I like about Stephen Friedman, knowing nothing about him other than he's Robert Rubin's former partner -- Robert Rubin in the Clinton administration did a fantastic job...
LIN: Former Treasury Secretary.
NAVARRO: ... and he -- he did a wonderful job -- if you can't get Rubin, I guess Friedman's a good choice. The bigger problem here, however, is that the economy is running into a very, very hard time now and I'm not sure it's going to get over the hump before we go back down and the unemployment rate goes up.
LIN: You know it's interesting that the Bush administration is fishing on Wall Street for the replacements for Secretary of Treasury and economic policy adviser. When you -- when you take a look at the Bush administration's plan -- I mean, how is that they're going to get back confidence in this economy -- do you think they are going to emphasize boosting stocks or do you think they're going to focus, or should they focus, on another tax cut?
NAVARRO: Very good question, Carol. Here to me is the big picture. You go the White House, you got the Federal Reserve and you've got the Congress all acting very entrepreneurial in competition over economic policy rather than cooperatively and the result is a mess. The Federal Reserve is reacting too slow because of that and worst of all the Congress is not exercising fiscal restraint; that's kept business executives on the sidelines and business executives will be the key to this recovery.
LIN: All right Professor, I'm going to elevate you to either Secretary of Treasury or the new Economic Policy Adviser for the purposes of this interview. What would you do? What is your recommendation to the Bush administration? Tax cuts -- you know -- privatizing Social Security? What is going to get them on track for the election in 2004?
NAVARRO: My recommendation isn't a policy one; it's an institutional one. You have to bring the White House, the Federal Reserve, and the Congress together at a high level and have them embark on what is a coordinated policy rather than a confederacy and a disparate policy right now. That's the most important thing -- these agencies must talk with one another.
LIN: All right, thank you very much. Peter Navarro. Good to see you.
And still ahead this hour, wild fires out side one of the world's largest cities and some pretty modest heroes. The full report when we come back.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
