Monday update: Benko slams Pearlstein; Laffer on enterprise zones; Tamny pans the President's jobs plan.

From Forbes, Ralph Benko slams The Washington Post’s Keynesian columnist Steven Pearlstein for disrespecting the gold standard.

In The WSJ, Art Laffer resuscitates enterprise zones to help African-American communities hit by high unemployment.
From Cato, Alan Reynolds corrects Charles Krauthammer on the Eisenhower economy.

Whether President Obama's base finds supply-side economics appealing or not, he should immediately join with all members of Congress from both parties to develop a full program for enterprise zones. And while enterprise zones are desperately needed in our inner cities, there are lots of areas in the hollows of Kentucky and West Virginia that need enterprise zones as well, not to mention barrios in California and New Mexico. Enterprise zones should be areas that are geographically defined with exceptionally high concentrations of poverty, underachievement and unemployment.

At Forbes, John Tamny pans the President’s jobs plan.

On Kudlow, Stephen Moore debates the President’s job plan:

 

The NY Sun connects US Rep. Ron Paul’s (TX) continued strength with many primary voters to his focus on the Constitution, including sound money.

On Asia Times, David Goldman suggests gold is falling because Greece and Italy may go bankrupt.

From TGSN, Ralph Benko features a cable on Beijing taking seriously a return to a dollar gold standard.

On Forbes, Reuven Brenner notes the US has yet to fully recover from 9/11.

At New World Economics, Nathan Lewis recounts the history of the British pound.

From Future of Capitalism, Ira Stoll notes Thomas Friedman’s new book includes positive words about the gold standard.

On The Kudlow Report, Cato’s Chris Edwards debates whether Social Security is a Ponzi Scheme:

 

The WSJ chides both Rick Perry and Mitt Romney on Social Security.

On his blog, Dick Morris critiques Perry’s Social Security position.

At International Liberty, Dan Mitchell suggests Romney and Michelle Bachmann are wrong to bash Perry on Social Security.

On COAL, Paul Krugman continues to deny gold’s inflation signal.

Thursday round up: Perry wants greater Fed transparency; Laffer chides Laffer; Kudlow sees the M2 rise as deflationary.

The NY Sun praises Gov. Rick Perry’s (TX) Federal Reserve criticism but hopes he will deepen his analysis.

In USA Today, Jeff Bell lauds Perry’s comments.

The WSJ commends Perry for taking a hard money stance.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post quotes Perry sounding defensive about his comment and explaining that his main desire is for greater Fed transparency.

On Squawk Box, Art Laffer chides Warren Buffett and provides a primer on his famous curve:




At Forbes, Tim Worstall rebuts Buffett’s tax argument.

On NRO, Larry Kudlow suggests the sharp rise in M2 suggests deflationary hedging against European banks.

From Forbes, Louis Woodhill explains why a 10 to 1 spending-cut-to-tax-increase ratio would still be a bad deal.

In The WSJ, Stephen Moore notes the President blaming world events and Republicans for the weak economy.

On The Kudlow Report, David Malpass discusses today’s market tumble and Europe’s banks:




Gold Standard 2012 features an International Economy article by Jeff Bell on the dollar and gold.

At Fox News, Rich Danker notes Venezuela’s nationalizing of its gold industry.

CNN reports US Rep. Michelle Bachmann (MN) promising to bring gas back to $2 per gallon.

On Forbes, John Tamny finds economic lessons in a book on the restaurant business.

At International Liberty, Dan Mitchell analyzes strange Keynesian arguments.

Wednesday summary: Rick Perry's Fed comments continue to garner attention; Salsman provides a history of gold; The WSJ notes the impact of higher taxes in Maryland.

RCP features Rick Perry continuing to critique the Fed.

Politico notes former Bush Administration officials critiquing Perry.

At Yahoo Finance, David Stockman endorses Rick Perry’s Federal Reserve criticism:

Reuters reports Michelle Bachmann joining the anti-Bernanke fray.

At Forbes, Richard Salsman provides an interesting history of the gold standard.

On First Trust, Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein suggest inflation is rising.

From The Kudlow Report, Brian Wesbury and Don Luskin debate inflation:




On RT America, Lew Rockwell discusses the Nixon Shock.

From 1971, Alan Reynolds blasts Nixon's price controls.

CNBC’s Squawk Box Europe features a good discussion of the gold standard:




The WSJ responds to Warren Buffett’s tax increase advocacy.

In The Washington Post, Jennifer Rubin reports Bill Bennett supports US Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) running for president.

The WSJ notes the decline of wealthy tax filers following last year’s soak-the-rich tax hikes in Maryland:

One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.

From 1979, Ronald Reagan announces his campaign for president (h/t: James Pethokoukis):




A new website promotes the Swiss gold franc.

At COAL, Paul Krugman notes bond vigilantes are only going after countries without their own currencies.

Weekend edition: The NYT quotes Bell and Lehrman on gold; Forbes on two important dates; Lewis says gold is not deflationary.

In The NYT, Jeff Sommer quotes Jeff Bell and Lew Lehrman on rising interest in the gold standard, but commits the error of discounting gold’s price for inflation:

The last apex of the back-to-gold movement was perhaps in 1980. It may have been a signal that the price of gold was about to peak. Could we be approaching a turning point now? “You could make that argument,” Mr. Bell says. “The big question is whether the government and the Federal Reserve will be able to get the economy under control without a return to gold.”

In Forbes, Steve Forbes advises the President to heed two important dates.

Also at Forbes, Nathan Lewis explains that gold is stable, not deflationary.

On The Kudlow Report, US Rep. Eric Cantor recounts that debt-ceiling negotiations broke down because the President insisted on tax increases:




At Forbes, Peter Ferrara notes the expected tax increases in 2013 and elimination of the Fed’s duel mandate.

On Forbes, Reuven Brenner suggests the Federal Reserve is mispricing credit.

This week’s winner of the Kevin Williamson Shooting-Inside-the-Foxhole Award goes to fractional reserve banking opponent Gary North at lewrockwell.com, for his harsh attack on sound money advocates Robert Mundell and Ralph Benko.

Speaking of Williamson, last week the National Review author once again muddied the waters by rebuking pro-growth advocates including fellow NR columnist Larry Kudlow.

On Kudlow, my old roommate Tim Carney debates the debt ceiling:




In The WSJ, author Margaret Hoover suggests a “jobs, jobs, jobs” agenda will win the GOP young voters.

Reagan brought an entire generation to the Republican Party in 1980, and in 1984 he won the youth vote by 20%. The GOP needs this kind of revolution again if it hopes to recapture the White House and create a sustained majority.

The Washington Post continues the media’s fascination with anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist.

In Business Week, David J. Lynch reports that Republicans embrace Art Laffer’s tax ideas.

The WSJ notes GOP candidate Michelle Bachmann suggesting lower income workers should pay higher taxes.