Thursday items: Hanke on China trade; Cochrane on growth; Pethokoukis on tax rates.

At Globe Asia, Steve Hanke rebuts China-trade hawks.

From Bloomberg, John Cochrane argues Europe needs growth rather than Keynesian deficit stimulus.

At The American, James Pethokoukis highlights academic studies showing tax rates substantially impact economic activity.

On CNBC, Ron Paul (TX) pans US Rep. Paul Ryan’s (WI) budget for insufficient spending cuts:



At IBD, Alan Reynolds and Steven Slein examine the Buffett Rule’s likely impact on corporate dividends.

The WSJ notes a scoring analysis showing the Buffett Rule would yield little revenue.

At TGSN, Ralph Benko explains the monetary roots of the Panic of 1837.

On Forbes, Louis Woodhill critiques the President’s recent energy speech.

At Forbes, Jerry Bowyer analyzes the gold price’s recent decline.

From Comedy Central, South Park satirizes the weak-dollar cash-for-gold market:

The NYT reports Britain cutting its top tax rate (minimally) while maintaining spending austerity.

The Washington City Paper calls supply-side economics a con.

Friday items.

A FreedomWorks press release says the organization will co-sponsor a panel discussion in Washington this week on sound money.

From Wednesday, Larry Kudlow reports on the stock market’s progress.

On The Kudlow Report, Stephen Moore analyzes the high jobless numbers:




At Encima Global, David Malpass assesses the jobless report.

On RCM, John Tamny takes a counter intuitive view of a US-debt default.

At Reason, Nick Gillespie downplays the role of economic growth in the current deficit:




The NY Sun notes silver's recent rise.

At National Review, Rich Lowry praises entrepreneurial innovation.

From the Mises Institute, George Selgin suggests the Fed has been a failure:




In The WSJ, John H. Cochrane suggests national debt defaults are preferable to bailouts.

On NRO, Kevin Williamson scolds Americans for Tax Reform for opposing the Simpson-Bowles tax plan.

Tuesday round up.

At RCM, John Tamny criticizes Treasury Secretary Geithner’s plan to manipulate trade balances through continued dollar weakness.

In The WSJ, University of Chicago’s John H. Cochrane analyzes Geithner’s trade balance argument.

Since when is every trade surplus or deficit an "external imbalance" in need of correction? It makes sense for a country that has good investment prospects to import a lot of goods, run trade deficits, and borrow money. Years later, the country puts the resulting products on boats to pay the lenders back. The U.S. borrowed abroad to finance our railroads in the 19th century and ran surpluses when Europe was rebuilding after World War II. Were these "imbalances"?

Or consider a country (say, China) with a lot of middle-aged workers who need to save for retirement. It makes perfect sense for them to put stuff on boats and send it to a second country (say, the United States) whose people want to consume the goods. The people in the first country invest their earnings, say, by buying the bonds issued by the second country. And as they retire, they cash in the bonds and buy goods flowing the other way.

Do these and similar stories exactly account for current trade patterns? I don't know. But nobody else does, either. In particular, the army of economists in the basements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has no clue exactly how much each country should be saving, or where the best untapped global investment opportunities are around the world—including whether trade patterns are "normal" or "imbalanced."

On CNBC, Keynesian Stephen Roach lashes China currency bashers:




Cato’s Steve Hanke recounts the history of US efforts to destabilize China’s currency.

Investor’s Business Daily offers non-monetary ways to increase exports.

At NRO, Stephen Spruiell comments on Paul Krugman’s claim that lower revenue due to contraction, not abnormally high spending, accounts for the budget deficit:




On The Washington Times, Richard Rahn argues taxes already have been increased by $352 billion.

At Alhambra Investments, Joseph Y. Calhoun, III assesses the economy.

On The Kudlow Report, Steve Forbes suggests the budget deficit can be reduced with strong growth:




Reprinted from First Things, David Goldman and Reuven Brenner analyze the Keynesian roots of the current crisis. (H/T: Dick Fox at Supply-Side Forum.)