Weekend edition: Mundell on global currency; Williams and Moore on benefits for the rich; Woodhill on the unemployment report.

Thailand’s The Nation reports supply-side guru Robert Mundell arguing for a global currency.

In Forbes, Louis Woodhill debunks optimism about the latest unemployment report.

In The WSJ, Walter Williams and Stephen Moore argue for cutting government benefits to the rich, rather than raising taxes:

The much bigger fiscal drain from the wealthy is on the federal expenditure side of the budget ledger: tens of billions each year in grants, loans, subsidies, guarantees and benefits pocketed each year by wealthy Americans as individuals and firms. Any campaign to downsize big government will only succeed if the needed deep cuts in spending are deemed by voters as equitable. In an era of $1 trillion-plus deficits and a $15 trillion national debt, we would like to think that a national consensus could be reached to eliminate handouts to individuals and companies with net incomes above $1 million.

On The Kudlow Report, Stephen Moore discusses the NLRB’s decision to drop its case against Boeing:

 

At America Now with Andy Dean, Cato’s Alan Reynolds discusses his recent WSJ op-ed on the top 1%.

From The Atlas Sound Money Project, Nicolas Cachanosky defends the gold standard.

At The Council on Foreign Relations, Benn Steil refutes Brad Delong’s claim that the ECB will print its way out of the EU’s debt crisis.

On Activist Post, David Redick proposes gold to save the euro (h/t: Ralph Benko).

In Forbes, Ken Rapoza quotes Bretton Woods Research’s Vlad Signorelli on China’s lower inflation and economic weakness.

The WSJ notes the weakening yuan.

On Fox Business, Steve Forbes discusses the European crisis and bailout possibilities:



The WSJ argues Europe won’t restore growth with higher tax rates.

At Cato Unbound, a monetarist, Keynesian, and an Austrian debate whether the economy is caught in a liquidity trap.

Tuesday update: Malpass and Moore on capital outflow; Domitrovic on unproductive investment; Benko on gold enthusiasm on the campaign trail.

From The WSJ, David Malpass and Stephen Moore note the outflow of investment capital from the US.

On Forbes, Brian Domitrovic explains that the weak dollar has shunted trillions of dollars out of productive investment into unproductive assets such as commodities.

At Forbes, Ralph Benko reports on gold standard enthusiasm on the campaign trail.

On The Kudlow Report, John Rutledge discusses the stock market and the economy:




At International Liberty, Cato’s Dan Mitchell provides three simple rules for tax reform.

The WSJ applauds the Greek government’s leading supply sider.

Mr. Samaras is calling for a cut in the Greek corporate income tax to 15% from 24%, along with cuts in the personal income-tax rate and taxes on fuel and tourism. In yesterday's interview he argues that lower rates would ease Greece's rampant tax-evasion problem while unleashing the creativity of the private sector. Sounds about right to us. As long as Mr. Samaras is looking for unorthodox ideas, we'd commend to his attention economist Steve Hanke's proposal, outlined on these pages last year, to sharply cut payroll taxes on employers to reduce labor costs and spur job creation. Greece's labor costs have soared over the past decade under union pressure, and those uncompetitive wages are a big part of Greece's sluggish economy.

From Forbes, Lawrence Hunter links the increase in social welfare spending with the decline in net private investment.

On RCM, John Tamny reviews Tim Harford’s Adapt.

At NRO, Mario Loyola notes the folly of soaking the rich.

Also on Kudlow, Stephen Moore and Sen. Rob Portman (OH) discuss the debt and taxes:



TGSN features videos of Lew Lehrman discussing the gold standard.

In The NYT, Bruce Bartlett reveals that Margaret Thatcher’s conservative revolution merely slowed the growth of Britain’s government.

From Bloomberg, Keynesian Brad DeLong argues the US is in a liquidity trap and requires big government spending stimulus to get out.

Thursday round up.

At Forbes, Jerry Bowyer highlights China’s weaknesses.

On Cafe Hayek, Don Boudreaux rebuts China currency manipulation charges.

The XtraNormal bears argue China manipulates its currency which steals American jobs.



The WSJ clarifies that China has many problems and that a burst of Reaganite growth would restore American confidence.

China remains an underdeveloped country, its economy barely one-third the size of America's. Its leaders live in fear of peasant revolts, ethnic separatists, underground religious movements, political dissidents and the free flow of information. Its economy remains profoundly hobbled by corruption, inefficient state-owned enterprises and an immature banking system.

There is no genuine rule of law and its regulatory environment has become increasingly unpredictable for foreign investors and local entrepreneurs. It suffers from an aging population and environmental damage Americans wouldn't tolerate. Its greatest comparative advantage—cheap labor—is under strain from rising domestic wages and competition from places like Vietnam and Bangladesh.

Above all, China suffers from an absence of self-correcting mechanisms, beginning at the top with its authoritarian political system. And while it can trumpet achievements like a stealth fighter or bullet trains—some based on pilfered designs—it has a harder time adjusting to failure, much less admitting to it.

From Foreign Policy, Daniel W. Drezner explains that China isn’t beating the U.S.

On The Kudlow Report, Gov. Mitch Daniels (IN) shows sound policy instincts regarding China and pro-growth policies, but omits the dollar from his analysis:



At Conscience of a Liberal, Paul Krugman praises the Bush era’s dollar decline.

On his blog, Brad DeLong quotes Krugman citing Milton Friedman in favor of currency devaluation.

In The WSJ, Joseph Sternberg suggests China won’t "rebalance" toward consumption anytime soon.

China needs to reallocate capital and labor on a massive scale to orient itself toward producing goods and services that Chinese consumers want to consume. This will require major banking changes, especially improving access to credit for the small and medium-sized enterprises that make a modern consumption-driven economy tick. Both regulation and habit will get in the way.

The regulation involves interest rates: Government manages both deposit and lending rates in a way that guarantees banks a wide spread. This was intended to help banks earn themselves out of an earlier generation of nonperforming loans at the expense of households, which earn lower rates on savings deposits. And the policy could prove especially necessary if 2009's credit binge results in huge piles of bad debts.

On Lew Rockwell, "Norm" claims Bill Kristol’s recent support for monetary reform is “another neocon trick, like supply-side economics.”