Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Tuesday summary.

At Forbes, Brian Domitrovic recounts the history behind William Jennings Bryan’s “cross of gold” speech.

On RCM, John Tamny scolds Paul Kruman for suggesting sound money has racist roots.

At The Kudlow Report, Larry advises Republicans to focus on tax and monetary reform rather than obsessing solely on the deficit:




Think Progress previews the left’s line of attack on Republicans: “Invest and Grow vs. Slash and Burn.”

At Alhambra Investments, Joe Calhoun suggests current Fed policy may provide a window for overdue fiscal policy reforms.

The NY Sun explains why the dollar’s value should be fixed.

On The Kudlow Report, Tamny debates high commodity prices:




The Independent Institute reprints Richard K. Vetter’s recent congressional testimony on why money creation doesn’t stimulate employment. (Hat tip: Atlas Sound Money Project.)

On Forbes, Steve Forbes interviews George Gilder on the future of technology.

From the weekend WSJ, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser explains his skepticism regarding Ben Bernanke’s policy direction.
Mr. Plosser doesn't see a deflation risk for the U.S. economy right now. Even those who were worried about deflation six months ago, he says, have begun to change their tune. That means that, with moderate GDP growth and low inflation in the mix, the only thing left as an excuse for QE2 is high unemployment. Can lax monetary policy change that picture?

Mr. Plosser's answer is unequivocal: This mess was caused by over-investment in housing, and bringing down unemployment will be a gradual process. "You can't change the carpenter into a nurse easily, and you can't change the mortgage broker into a computer expert in a manufacturing plant very easily. Eventually that stuff will sort
itself out. People will be retrained and they'll find jobs in other industries. But monetary policy can't retrain people. Monetary policy can't fix those problems."

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