Shutdown May Have No Impact on Economy in Long Term, Kudlow Says

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, says the administration disagrees with projections by the Congressional Budget Office about the ultimate cost of the partial government shutdown to the U.S. economy.

“Once again, we disagree with the CBO,” Kudlow told Fox Business Network on Tuesday, adding that it’s possible the impact of the shutdown on the U.S. economy is "utterly totally temporary."

Kudlow added that he sees “no reason” why the U.S. economy can’t continue to grow at the rate of three percent or more a year. He called the shutdown a temporary issue and said the non-partisan agency "never gave us credit for the supply side incentives" from Trump’s policies.

The CBO said Monday that the five-week partial shutdown of the U.S. government will ultimately cost the economy $3 billion, or about 0.02 percent of annual gross domestic product. The closure also had indirect effects tough to measure, it said.

In another report Monday, the agency said trade barriers put in place under the Trump administration will hurt rather than help the economy, cutting real GDP by about 0.1 percent on average through 2029.

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.