Weekend edition: Reynolds, Ferrara and Jenkins on the President's budget and tax proposal; Bell on social issues; Weber on the GOP's message.

Editor's note: Spotty coverage last week and this due to personal travel. Will be back on track later this week.
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From Creators syndicate, Alan Reynolds critiques the President’s budget proposal.

At Forbes, Peter Ferrara suggests the President’s budget will damage the economy.

In The WSJ, Holman Jenkins advises Mitt Romney to take up the President’s challenge on the taxes paid by the wealthy.

The WSJ profiles Jeff Bell who argues social issues are vital to the conservative coalition.

On The Kudlow Report, former US Rep. Vin Weber (MN) discusses the GOP’s messaging problem:



On NRO, Larry Kudlow notes Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp’s going after Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner on tax policy.

In Reason, Tim Cavanaugh counters Geithner’s tax increase advocacy.

At The American, Aparna Mathur notes the effect of higher taxes on capital flows.

From American Thinker, Ralph Benko advocates a gold commission.

In Forbes, Bill Bonner critiques The NYT’s coverage of a possible return to gold-linked money.

At Monetary Choice, Dave Doctor rebuts Keynesian Dean Baker’s defense of the Federal Reserve.

The NY Sun suggests Sarah Palin would be a better World Bank president than Hillary Clinton.

From Bloomberg, Gregory DL Morris recounts the history of the Federal Reserve’s founding.

From last month’s Texas Public Policy Foundation conclave, Art Laffer debates Keynesian Jared Bernstein:




At The American, James Pethokoukis outlines arguments for the President’s opponents even if the economy is recovering.

In The WSJ, Michael Boskin suggests government is a poor investor.

USA Today links the recession to slow population growth from births and immigration.

Thursday round up: Tamny on China; Woodhill on Keynes; Moore on tax reform.

From RCM, John Tamny defends China on manufacturing jobs.

At Forbes, Louis Woodhill argues against Keynesian stimulus and for a series of interesting reforms.

In The WSJ, Michael Boskin applauds the GOP tax reform contest.

On The Kudlow Report, Stephen Moore discusses tax reform efforts:

 

At NRO, Larry Kudlow notes the ECB’s surprise quarter-point cut of its target rate.

In The WSJ, Paul Gigot reports Colorado’s rejection of tax increases to pay for education.

On Seeking Alpha, John Bowman notes the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors to the French Prime Minister advocates keeping the euro and supply-side solutions.

The Tax Policy Center analyzes the distribution of Gov. Perry’s flat tax plan.

The Economic Policy Institute honors Paul Krugman:

 

The Washington Post reports House Speaker John Boehner (OH) dismissing anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist.

Also in The Washington Post, Charles Lane rebuts claims that US infrastructure is crumbling.

Thursday summary: Mundell on Greek default; the dollar is rising; Politico on opposition to Bernanke.

From Bloomberg, Robert Mundell says a Greek debt default would trigger a “monstrous” run on banks, that no nation should leave the eurozone, and that the Fed and ECB should enact a $1 trillion swap facility to prevent a dollar shortfall.

Dow Jones reports the dollar rising, with the euro down to $1.38 from $1.45 in recent days.

Politico notes the opposition to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at the GOP debate.

Bloomberg reports a surprise cut in Brazil’s interest rate despite 7.2% inflation.

At The WSJ, Joseph Sternberg and Abheek Bhattacharya discuss the weak dollar’s role in Korea’s rising inflation:

 

The WSJ reports on two new studies of why the stimulus failed.

In Asia Times, David Goldman criticizes the small business payroll tax cut.

In The WSJ, Michael Boskin argues the President’s response to the crises he inherited has been poor.

On The Kudlow Report, Larry Kudlow discusses the President’s jobs speech:

 

At RCM, John Tamny defends China’s economic strategy.

The WSJ analyzes Mitt Romney’s 59-point economic plan.

Also in The Journal, Paul Gigot critiques the Romney proposal.

From earlier this month, The NY Sun notes an excellent interview with James Grant on gold.

In Forbes, Jerry Bowyer suggests that while imperfect, gold is the best monetary barometer.

TGSN features Ronald Reagan’s TV ad supporting a return to the gold standard:

At COAL, Paul Krugman denies that gold is sending inflationary signals.

Also on COAL, Krugman attacks The WSJ editorial page’s economic predications.

Monday update: Benko chides Frank on the gold standard; Kudlow sees a possible debt deal; Salsman blames Bernanke for the Great Recession.

From Forbes, Ralph Benko chides progressive writer Thomas Frank for dismissing the gold standard.

On NRO, Larry Kudlow sees a grand debt bargain including tax cuts as possible.

At Forbes, Richard Salsman argues Fed Chairman Bernanke caused the Great Recession by allowing the yield curve to invert in 2007.

On The Kudlow Report, John Harwood profiles Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty:



The NY Sun notes the irony that Bernard von NotHaus will go to jail for minting silver coins that are worth more today than when he made them, while the Federal Reserve prints dollars that continue to lose value.

In The WSJ, Stephen Moore reports that after a two-week government shutdown, Minnesota’s Democratic governor has agreed to deep spending cuts without tax increases.

In the goofball analysis of the week, Newsweek’s Daniel Altman suggests today’s American “narcissism” stems from supply-side economics.

This rhetoric—that Americans can have everything without having to pay for it—dates back to the Reagan era, when an economist named Arthur Laffer suggested that lowering tax rates would result in more revenue by spurring spending among businesses and consumers. He was wrong, but it’s clear from the budget debate in Washington that people still believe him.

In The WSJ, Michael Boskin finds that without spending cuts, taxes will need to rise substantially on all tax payers.

Monday round up: Reynolds on tax rates; Benko on growth; Kaldec on monetary reform.

From Cato, Alan Reynolds responds to Robert Reich’s critique of Reynolds’ recent WSJ column.

On Forbes, Ralph Benko continues his growth vs. budget cuts debate with NRO’s Kevin Williamson.

In Forbes, Charles Kadlec advocates a quantity-based monetary policy to ensure monetary quality.

On The Kudlow Report, Steve Forbes debates cutting foreign repatriation taxes:




Also at Forbes, John Tamny suggests Americans know the economy is weak and will vote accordingly.

In The WSJ, George H.W. Bush economist Michael Boskin advises deficit hawks.

USA Today casts the 2012 election as a debate over economic philosophy.

In Newsweek, President Clinton offers ideas for improving the economy, though except for cutting the corporate tax rate, it’s mostly demand-side small ball. He omits the key ingredient of his own tenure, a stable dollar.

On Kudlow, Steve Forbes discusses the Greek debt crisis and the dollar:




At RCM, Robert Samuelson wonders why so many US jobs go unfilled.

On Bloomberg, Simon Johnson cites floating exchange rates as a vital tool to handling financial crises.

From The WSJ, James Freeman suggests Rick Perry’s job record will make him a strong candidate.

Wednesday items.

On Forbes, Ralph Benko skewers Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s quantitative easing plan.

At The WSJ, Michael Boskin explains the data that support tax rate cuts over spending stimulus.

On The Kudlow Report, Jerry Bowyer defends the eurozone and calls for sound money and lower taxes:




The WSJ editorial board notes the harm higher top tax rates do to job creators.

On NRO’s Corner, Cato’s Mark Calabria rebuts David Beckworth’s “conservative case for QE2.”

The WSJ reports U.S. Rep. Mike Pence’s (IN) superb recent Detroit Economic Club speech calling for a supply-side reform agenda.

After criticizing the excessive money creation under Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Mr. Pence called for eliminating the Fed's dual mandate to pursue both price stability and full employment. He wants the Fed to focus exclusively on price stability and thinks the U.S. should consider returning to gold in setting the value of the dollar. President Reagan understood that inflation is the thief of the middle class and that investor confidence is destroyed when governments debase the value of their currencies. Mr. Pence apparently understands this, too.

A brief video clip is here.

In The Washington Times, Richard Rahn examines insider trading.

In City Journal, Nicole Gelinas advocates tax reform:

Moreover, cutting tax breaks would be in the best supply-side tradition. Supply-side economists, after all, have long counseled lower tax rates for a reason: they figured that regular people could spend and invest their money more wisely than the government could. But rate reductions can’t work if the government continues to run people’s lives through the rest of the tax code.

Right now, we may have supply-side tax rates, but thanks to tax breaks, we’ve got a thoroughly demand-side tax code. That’s a toxic combination, considering that we need healthy economic growth to help us confront our national debt. The economy can’t grow optimally if Washington encourages Americans to pour more borrowed money into their houses at the expense of more productive investments. Nor can the economy fight its way out of stagnation if state and local governments keep pushing up their own taxes, with an assist from Capitol Hill and the White House.

At Lew Rockwell, Gary North obsesses over deficits and omits economic growth from his critique of the Laffer Curve.