i spoke with kevin hassett earlier about what he sees in these numbers.ght between 3% and 3.5%. they came in a little below that. remembering the average over the last three quarters is around 3%, it is always useful to look at the negative surprises. they were inventories and net exports. one of the things that is a very early think we were talking about that might be an effect of the tax bill this firms had an incentive to put costs in last year because of the statutory corporate rate. then they get the sales this year at a lower rate. we expected some kind of surge in costs, it imports for firms free buying materials -- pre-buying materials in december to get the higher rate of deduction. in our minds it later this negative surprising gdp. it is the first glimpse of the major fx of the tax -- effects of the tax bill. another bit of news more important was the durable business relief. when he order a durable good, it takes a while to get it delivered. the people who want to ramp up activity here who are more optimistic about next year because of the tax

stay tuned back with kevin hassett in just a bit.tion in the finger lakes is helping build the new new york. once home to the world's image center, new york state is now a leader in optics, photonics and imaging. fueled by strong university partnerships, providing the world's best talent. and supported with workforce development to create even more opportunities. all across new york state, we're building the new new york. to grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd.ny.gov. to grow your business with us in new york state, wow! record time.s. at cognizant, we're helping today's leading life sciences companies go beyond developing prescriptions to offering subscriptions with personalized, real-time advice for life-long, healthy living. honey? you almost done? nope. get ready, because we're helping leading companies see it- and see it through-with digital. >>> welcome back to "squawk box. steve wynn out as secretary. wynn told the journal gnat allegations of assault were, quote, preposterous. we wanted some input on how a

i'm sure you have seen the different articles and the raging debates between kevin hassett and paul krugman 30 years on from these classic textbooks in terms of how we make growth? how do we do growth? did the tax cuts help? maurice: if we look at the emerging and developing markets, we have seen them open up. we have seen them reform. we have seen them introduce monetary and fiscal frameworks that are consistent with stability. we've also seen many of them converge toward advanced country income levels. not always that close, but it's gotten better. reforms dot friendly definitely work. to be policy, you have careful on what you tax and what you don't. you have to be careful about revenue and what you spend it on. just saying tax cuts alone, that's not a recipe for trust. it could be part of the recipe, but there's a bigger picture there that you cannot lose sight of. tom: i want to get back to the study today. , which was the real story of better economic growth? which nation surprised you? maurice: at some level come the eurozone has surprised us -- at some level, the eurozone has surpri

we have the view from the white house this morning kevin hassett will be joining us to see what we've seen with the dow and the rest of the markets and what we can expect from the economy this year. what kind of things they are expecting and what will happen with the markets as a result we've all been talking about infrastructure we have the president and ceo of the associated builders and contractors going to come on and talk to us about what could happen if there was an infrastructure bill that got passed and what that would mean if it were funded. >>> plus, we'll be talking about business this morning. this week is the jpmorgan health care conference. we have the ceo of biogen coming to us from san francisco all of this coming up in a few minutes. >> great stuff we look forward to t. "squawk box" coming your way in seven minutes' time. let's get back to markets on "worldwide exchange. futures pointing higher slightly for the s&p now. back to fractionally lower dow and nasdaq joining us. >> let's touch on the data we got on friday. was that justified because of the underlying positi

the nations' economy.nat: "president trump is one of the most in the numbers guys i've ever seen"kevin hassettthe chairman of the president's council of economic advisors. he says in the speech, the president will promote the recently passed republican tax bill.but also ask americans to re-think how much growth is still possible."he understand why the middle class hasn't kept up, and he's got policies that will hit on that, and the economy is starting to respond to that"the president is also expected to ask congress to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to improve american infrastructure. but gary nordlinger, a , says don't expect the president to release a detailed plan.at least not yet."i think the biggest problem he's having there, is getting any agreement on how to fund it"on tuesday, the president is also expected to address another funding request.the white house wants 25 billion to build a southern border wall. "he's going to have to give the democrats something, the democrats are going to have to give him something, and the republicans are going to have to go along with it"but exper

although the dates haven't been set by the current chair of the council of economic advisors, kevin hassett, and hall, the congressional budget director. one of thein is sharpest young budget economist yearsficit hawks at 33 old. experience in of the budget arena. worked on the simpson bowles commission in 2010. the committee that followed that effort in 20 11. ms from john and hopkins. at thehes there and university of dc. marc is a new father. topic is very appropriate in hope that his kid and our more than they have to. marc goldwein. >> well, i appreciate you saying i'm one of the sharpest budget hawks. it seems like it is pretty small universe. thank you all for having me back again. i didn't eat anything this time. fa risk of and the anti- lactic shock. this one is going to be worse. this one is going to be much worse. was in this presentation a year ago, this is probably what i would have shown you. give or take. i would have shown you where our fiscal situation was. oh, there wet -- do. which is that president trump debted office with higher as a share of the economy than any presid

were trying to secure an interview with the head of the president's council of economic advisors, kevin hassett. but though he was at the conference, no luck. so instead we turned to longtime american university professor bob lerman. >> on policy, i would give him maybe a b-minus to a b. >> reporter: lerman calls himself a "moderate" or market economist. he likes much of what trump is doing for the economy. >> i think the corporate reforms make sense. i think he's been pro energy now you can argue against it on environmental grounds but i think that several steps will expand output in the energy field. >> reporter: and that means jobs. >> and that means jobs and usually good jobs. >> reporter: and how do the naysayers reconcile their low marks with a high-grade economy? non-partisan former international monetary fund chief economist olivier blanchard. >> other things are going on which explain why the economy's doing well. >> reporter: and what, besides momentum, are those "other things"? for the companies in the standard and poor's 500 stock index, start with their earnings from elsewhere. >>

february, , although te dates have been set, by the culture of the council of economic advisers kevin hassett and also the congressional budget office director keith hall. marc goldwein is one of the sharpest, young budget economist deficit hawks at 33 33 years o. he's had a lot of experience in the budget arena. he worked on the simpson-bowles commission in 2010, and he was deputy staff director of the supercommittee that follow that effort in 2011. he's got a ba and ms in economics from johns hopkins, and he also teaches there and that university of california d.c. finally, marc is a new father, and so this topic is very appropriate in hope that his kid and our kids don't pay more than they have to. marc goldwein. [applause] >> well, i appreciate you saying that in one of the sharpest budget hawks but it seems like it's a free small universe. [laughing] thank you all for having me back again. i didn't eat anything this time, so no risk of anaphylactic shock. those of you have seen me speak before, when i actually made it past the eating phase of the speech, know that often come with a depre

the nations' economy.nat: "president trump is one of the most in the numbers guys i've ever seen"kevin hassett is the chairman of the president's council of economic advisors. he says in the speech, the president will promote the recently passed republican tax bill.but also ask americans to re-think how much growth is still possible."he understand why the middle class hasn't kept up, and he's got policies that will hit on that, and the economy is starting to respond to that"the president is also expected to ask congress to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to improve american infrastructure. but gary nordlinger, a , says don't expect the president to how to fund it"on tuesday, the president is also expected to address another funding request.the white southern border wall."he's going to have to give the democrats something, the democrats are going to have to give him something, and the republicans are going to have to go along with it"but experts admit getting anything won't be easy. and that tuesday's speech only sets up the agenda, not the outcome.in washington, i'm mark meredith. (grant

the nations' economy.nat: "president trump is one of the most in the numbers guys i've ever seen"kevin hassett is the chairman of the president's council of economic advisors. he says in the speech, the president will promote the recently passed republican tax bill.but also ask americans to re-think how much growth is still possible. "he understand why the middle class hasn't kept up, and he's got policies that will hit on that, and the economy is starting to respond to that" the president is also expected to ask congress to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to improve american infrastructure. but gary nordlinger, a , says don't expect the president to release a detailed plan.at least not yet."i think the biggest problem he's having there, is getting any agreement on how to fund it"on tuesday, the president is also expected to address another funding request.the white house wants 25 billion to build a southern border wall. "he's going to have to give the democrats something, the democrats are going to have to give him something, and the republicans are going to have to go along with it"but