GEORGE WAYNE Q&A

After the bell with Kudlow and Cramer

The most flamboyant pairing on television's crowded news/talk-show landscape is that of Lawrence Kudlow and James Cramer, the former an ex-Reagan official in the guise of a British art dealer, the latter a brainy Wall Street trader who never takes in enough breath to last him one whole, highpitched sentence. The combination yields a mix of humor and insidery, right-leaning insight. On the set after a recent show, the pair sounded off to our columnist on infidelity, the new robber barons, and the pleasures of English tailoring.

George Wayne: The first and most obvious question would be: How did Kudlow meet Cramer?

Lawrence Kudlow: Good question. I'm not really sure.

James Cramer: We were shotgunned and we didn't mind the rhythm of it. We liked each other, and it turned out to work. G.W. Mr. Kudlow, that is a fabulous suit you're wearing. Is it Brioni? L.K. No, I have an English tailor who put it together for me. G.W. You are like the uptight, fuddy-duddy Republican, and Cramer is the crass, brassy, shrill egomaniac.

J.C. I'm a trader and I'm not gonna lose those traits overnight. L.K. Brian Williams calls him "Caf" and calls me "Decaf." G.W. Mr. Kudlow, you grew up surrounded by wealth.

L.K. Middle-class, Englewood, New Jersey.

G.W. What was your childhood like, Mr. Cramer?

J.C. A good life. My father still works—he's a jobber. I always thought I was rich until I got to Harvard, and then I realized I was just a scholarship kid.

G.W. According to your hagiography— f L.K. I love it. You should come on Kudlow & Cramer;

that's great. G.W.According to your book, Mr. Cramer,

you were an expert at the stock market from five years old. J.C. I loved the stock market even as a little boy, absolutely. I was addicted to it. I would grab the paper from my dad the moment he came home from work and go right to the business pages. G.W. You both have good minds, but you, Mr. Cramer, weren't always a particularly likable character. There was a time, you said, that "greed occupied every pore of my body!' You were Gordon Gekko. J.C. There were periods in my life when I was a jerk. There were some ugly characteristics to the life I led. I was an honest husband, I loved my kids.

G.W. Never had an extramarital affair?

J.C. No.

G.W. What about Kudlow?

L.K. No.

G.W. And you, Mr. Cramer, have this weird metabolism where you can get by on only two hours' sleep.

J.C. Yes. My sister has it, too—she'll be up for two days.

G.W. Do you think Martha Stewart should be sent to jail?

L.K. I've never met her, but when this first broke I became a defender of hers. I just looked at the story line and didn't see any evidence of wrongdoing. She might not have had the best PR. campaign initially, but no wrongdoing. She is a great female entrepreneur.

G.W. Who is the biggest swindler of the 21st century?

J.C. Bernard Ebbers from WorldCom.

L.K. Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco, because here is a guy who swindled, stole, parceled out to his little clique, and didn't tell the board. J.C. The person who did nothing was Martha Stewart. She's been slavish to her shareholders.

G.W. Who would you like to see as the next chairman of the Fed?

L.K. Glenn Hubbard, who was George W. Bush's top economist for two years. I've known Greenspan for 25 years. He is very smart, but he has been in a slump for the past few years.

G.W. Are you going to be senator from New Jersey? L.K. I'm so happy to have this new career, but that rumor appears every once in a while.

G.W. Mr. Kudlow had some personal problems with drugs and alcohol in the 90s, so I'm sure you'd be the first to agree that it's all about living one day at a time.

L.K. Absolutely. That's really the way I look at it. You get a call from some top-brass guy in the network, and all of a sudden you have your own show. The Lord works in strange ways.