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FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2018
Click HERE for Wednesday's aluminum quote from Senator Alexander.
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ARE WE CLOSE TO A DEAL WITH MEXICO, REAL CLOSE?
"Yes. [But] it's always the case that you're worried that Dustin Hoffman is going to show up at the wedding. But the wedding is scheduled ... [and] everybody expects that the deal will be finalized very, very soon."
August 23, 2018
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Kevin Hassett is the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. He was interviewed yesterday morning by Stuart Varney of Varney & Company. If you watch the clip, you will see Mr. Varney at his usual perch in New York and Mr. Hassett responding from the White House lawn. Most of the interview dealt with the U.S. economy, but near the end Mr. Varney asked about NAFTA or, more specifically, about the negotiations with Mexico. The essence of that exchange is today's featured quote, and below you will find our transcription of the NAFTA portion of this exchange between Stuart Varney and Kevin Hassett.
To coin a phrase, no one knows what tomorrow will bring, but today's reports of the NAFTA talks suggest perhaps, not that the U.S. and Mexico are close to a deal, but that they believe they are. The essential fact is the declared intention of Mexico's top negotiator and Secretary of Economy, Ildefonso Guajardo, to stay in Washington through the weekend and on into next week.
As promised, here is our transcript from the NAFTA moment of yesterday's back-and-forth between Stuart Varney and Kevin Hassett.
MR. VARNEY:
Are we close to a deal with Mexico, real close?
MR. HASSETT:
Yes. You know, it's always the case that you're worried that Dustin Hoffman is going to show up at the wedding. Right? But the wedding is scheduled, and the fact is that ... You say I'm not a trade guy. I am a trade principal in the sense that when we have the trade meetings I'm there. I'm not a trade negotiator, and so I'm not in there talking to the Mexicans right now about the final details. But everybody expects that the deal will be finalized very, very soon.
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To say the least, Mr. Hassett's reference to The Graduate was inspired. Yet there is something vaguely disquieting about it. Dustin Hoffman is Benjamin Braddock, the boy who loves the fair Elaine (Katherine Ross) and who snatches her from the church just after the ceremony linking her to the wrong guy. The jarring element here is that Benjamin is not the bad guy in the movie. He's our hero. Putting such sympathies aside, who might Benjamin/Dustin be in this current drama? Justin Trudeau?
Mr. Guajardo has said he wants a NAFTA deal, not just a U.S.-Mexico deal. That is, he wants Canada at the table. The upbeat voices in our head whisper: We assume Mr. Guajardo is in close touch with Canada's Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, his Canadian counterpart in these talks. He wouldn't be holding out for a three-country deal unless he thought it was possible. Still, we're skeptical, but we're keeping our fingers crossed. In the meantime...
ENJOY THE WEEKEND!
Next week, in addition to NAFTA, we'll turn our attention to another topic highlighted in The Graduate: "Plastics."
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Kevin Hassett's Concern. This is the link to Stuart Varney August 23 interview with Kevin Hassett, which was the source for today's featured quote.
Final Scene. This is the YouTube clip of the final scene from The Graduate, the 1967 romantic comedy directed by Mike Nichols. It's the wedding scene referenced above.
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