Tax assessor: Gary Cohn on Trump's agenda

税务评估员:加里·科恩谈特朗普的议程

Money Talks from The Economist

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2025-06-06

42 分钟
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As a registered Democrat, Gary Cohn was an unexpected pick for Donald Trump's chief economic adviser in 2017. He came on a mission to slash taxes, but left during the president's first tariff war. Eight years later we interview Mr Cohn at the Reagan National Economic Forum, getting his take on the more-radical “Liberation Day” tariffs and the “Big Beautiful Bill” that would make permanent the tax cuts he crafted. Hosts: Mike Bird and Alice Fulwood. Guest: Gary Cohn, former director of America's National Economic Council under Donald Trump and former president of Goldman Sachs. Recorded at the Reagan National Economic Forum. Transcripts of our podcasts are available via economist.com/podcasts. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+.
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  • Back in late 2016,

  • Donald Trump was putting together the team for his first presidential administration.

  • The role of assistant to the president for economic policy and director of the National Economic Council went to one Gary Cohn.

  • He is not someone steeped in government experience,

  • but he's a very roll up your sleeves and practical dealmaker.

  • In one sense, the appointment followed a predictable pattern.

  • Cohn was president and chief operating officer of Goldman Sachs,

  • making him the third Goldman executive to be handed the economic advisor position.

  • And yet... I have to admit, somewhat surprising.

  • I mean, Mr. Cohn, again, as you point out, not an economist.

  • He's a markets guy, you know, fixed income and the like.

  • You know, it's interesting that he would take that job.

  • That wasn't the only reason the appointment seemed a touch surprising.

  • Gary Cohn was a registered Democrat.

  • a free trade friendly centrist in a Trump administration with a powerful protectionist wing.

  • But Gary Cohn was in it for one crucial thing, to reform the U.S. tax code.

  • Now the House has officially passed one of the biggest changes to the tax code rewritten in three decades.

  • They got their win.

  • They are now, it's passed through the House.

  • In 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed.