Thursday items: The WSJ reports the dollar's rise; Woodhill on the auto industry; Pento sees gold emerging as the world reserve asset.

The WSJ reports the dollar is beginning to rise.

At Forbes, Louis Woodhill explains how regulation and dollar volatility has hurt US automakers.

In The WSJ, Sen. Rob Portman (OH) advocates dollar-for-dollar deficit reduction for every debt ceiling increase. 

On The Kudlow Report, David Malpass discusses Italy’s possible default and its effect on world markets:




At Forbes, Bill Frezza discusses the end of Bretton Woods with George Shultz.

From the archive, Jude Wanniski explains why Nixon left gold.

On Forbes, Michael Pento suggests the current crisis calls for a return to gold as the international reserve currency.

In The WSJ, Charles C. Johnson notes President Coolidge beat recession with tax and spending cuts.

But "nothing" seemed to work. With the tax cuts in place, luxuries of the rich quickly became middle-class, as affordable cars and radios rolled off the assembly line. Industrial titans (and Coolidge-backers) like Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford made unheard-of fortunes. Real annual per-capita income rose 37%, to $716 from $522.

The "Coolidge prosperity," denounced as ephemeral after the 1929 crash, was real for those who experienced it. Coolidge knew this well, telling reporters that "If you can base the economic conditions of the people on their appearance, the way they are dressed, [and] the general appearance of prosperity, I should say it was very good . . . I noticed most of the ladies had on silk dresses and I thought I saw a rather general display of silk stockings."

On RCM, John Tamny reviews Bryan Caplan’s Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids.

In IBD, Mark McKinnon reports the President’s allies hope to spur a third party challenge from Ron Paul in order to split anti-Obama votes.

At The Atlantic, Keynesian Jared Bernstein blames supply-side economics and laissez-faire policies for recent economic troubles but omits the dollar from his analysis.