Wednesday round up.

The President’s deficit commission recommends spending cuts along with lower tax rates and elimination of deductions.

From August, Louis Woodhill exposes the commission’s low growth assumptions.

On The Kudlow Report, Don Luskin comments on how to play loose money and fiscal austerity:




At Forbes, Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein argue against quantitative easing.

In The FT, Alan Greenspan doubts the wisdom of a weaker dollar.

The WSJ editorializes in favor of trade liberalization to improve global imbalances.

A country's trade balance is simply an accounting identity that by definition matches the flow of goods and capital. Some countries export goods (a trade surplus) and also export capital to help other countries pay for those goods (a capital deficit). Others import goods (a trade deficit) while importing the capital with which to buy them (a capital surplus). Japan and Germany fall in the first category, the U.S. and India in the second. Either is perfectly normal.

The real problem is that for several decades many economies, especially in East Asia, have attempted to thwart these natural flows by running both trade and capital surpluses, and thus accumulating extraordinary levels of foreign currency reserves. Japan has done this for so many years that it is running a capital account deficit even as it sits on an enormous pile of U.S. Treasurys. China and South Korea do the same today.

This is where freer trade becomes so important. Trade barriers have long been a central policy tool for governments trying to keep their economies oriented toward exports. Trade barriers raise domestic prices by depriving consumers of the benefits of competition, while also artificially limiting their consumption options. Meanwhile, consumers and businesses aren't sending as much capital overseas to pay for imported goods.

On The NY Sun, Seth Lipsky defends Robert Zoellick from critics.

Cato’s Dan Mitchell worries the Fed is turning the dollar into a joke.

At NRO, Larry Kudlow links to Dan Mitchell’s latest video opposing tax increases:




In The Washington Examiner, Ralph Benko suggests ways to help the economy.