Wednesday summary: Domitrovic reviews Lehrman; Mundell on currency instability; Paul on the Fed.

From Forbes, Brian Domitrovic reviews Lew Lehrman’s The True Gold Standard.

At TGSN, Ralph Benko notes The Royal Institute of International Affairs interest in the gold standard.

The People’s Daily (China) reports on a speech about currency instability and exchange rates by supply-side economics founder Robert Mundell.

On The Kudlow Report, US Rep. Ron Paul (TX) argues the Fed is still engaged in quantitative easing:

 

At The Weekly Standard, Charles Wolf, Jr. suggests the Keynesian model is wrong in theory.

From First Trust, Brian Wesbury examines the positive parts of the economy.

In The WSJ, Gerald P. O’Driscoll notes the financial links between the US and EU.

At The Washington Times, US Rep. Steve Stivers recommends reform of Dodd-Frank.

On Kudlow, US Reps. Jim Jordan (OH) and Charlie Rangel (NY) debate the economy and taxes:

 

From reader S. Rao:

I listened through Herman Cain and Rich Lowrie's presentations at AEI earlier this week and wanted to point out some Jude Wanniski influences in Lowrie's presentation. Video of the AEI Panel including Lowrie, here: (click on "A Panel Discussion . . .")

(at 26:35): Lowrie distinguishes the incidence and burden of a tax. Wanniski noted the same but in the capital gains context.

(at 32:54): Lowrie notes that the capital gains tax is a wall between those who have ideas and those with money. See the Wanniski-Laffer wedge model, here.

(at 33:29): Lowrie notes that productivity depends on the ratio of capital to labor. Wanniski used the analogy of a thick soup "Think of a pot of soup that has mixed in it labor and capital. If we add more capital, and stir it up, the soup becomes thicker, with a higher capital/labor ratio."

(at 36:24): In the context of the poverty portion of the 9-9-9 plan, Lowrie says it is obvious that to have general growth we "can't leave anyone behind"; and, in reverse, to address poverty, we must address general growth. A comparable point was made by Wanniski about Reagan in 1980. As President Reagan said in the "Good Shepherd" television commercial: "Those who have the least will gain the most. If we put incentives back into society, everyone will gain. We have to move ahead. But we can't leave anyone behind."