Kudlow Says Government May Take Equity Stakes for Company Aid

(Bloomberg) -- The White House's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said the administration may consider asking for an equity stake in corporations who want coronavirus aid from taxpayers.

“One of the ideas is, if we provide assistance, we might take an equity position,” Kudlow said Wednesday at the White House, adding that the 2008 bailout of General Motors Co. had been a good deal for the federal government.

But Kudlow cautioned that the idea was just one of many, and that the ultimate form of the coronavirus stimulus legislation would depend on what emerged from negotiations with Capitol Hill.

“This thing is one day at a time,” Kudlow said.

Kudlow also said the administration could “up the ante” beyond its $1.3 trillion stimulus proposal if the economic impact of the coronavirus is worse than anticipated.

“We'll do whatever it takes,” he said.

Kudlow's comments about the GM bailout contrast with his assessment in 2009, when he called the Obama administration's rescue of the automaker “an attack on free-market capitalism.”

“Call it Bailout Nation or Ownership Nation, it's an unprecedented degree of government command, control, and planning, all in the name of a tough economic downturn,” Kudlow wrote on CNBC's website.

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