Tuesday summary: The WSJ on cap gains tax rates; Kudlow on tax increases; Fine on dollar confidence and Bernanke.

The WSJ highlights the positive revenue effects of cutting the capital gains tax.

In The WSJ, Amity Shlaes cites FDR and Coolidge to argue tax policy should focus on competition not fairness.

On The Kudlow Report, Larry opposes raising tax rates:



On RCM, financier Eric Fine argues Ben Bernanke reduces confidence in the dollar by dismissing the gold standard.

From Alhambra Partners, Joseph Calhoun fears economic weakness will spur QE3.

In The Washington Times, Richard Rahn complains about the byzantine tax code.

From ISI, George Gilder debates technology and the prospects for growth:



In The NYT, Bruce Bartlett suggests eliminating income taxes for the lower 75% of earners and replacing the revenue with a 12.5% VAT.

Wednesday summary: Woodhill discounts the Dow against gold; Rahn on spending; Cruz advocates sound money.

From Forbes, Louis Woodhill measures the Dow’s value against gold.

In The Washington Times, Richard Rahn suggests government spending cuts would spur growth.

The NY Sun recounts the five policy errors that wreck a recovery.

On The Kudlow Report, Jimmy Pethokoukis and Steve Forbes preview the GOP debate:



At TGSN, Lew Lehrman argues the gold standard bolstered investor confidence.

On NRO, Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz includes sound money in his jobs plan.

The Daily Caller reports Steve Forbes endorses Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT) for re-election.

On Kudlow, former US Rep. Dick Armey (TX) debates the President’s upcoming jobs speech:

 

From Reason TV, George Gilder discusses supply-side economics, Israel, the traditional family and technology.

Tuesday summary.

At Forbes, Brian Domitrovic recounts the history behind William Jennings Bryan’s “cross of gold” speech.

On RCM, John Tamny scolds Paul Kruman for suggesting sound money has racist roots.

At The Kudlow Report, Larry advises Republicans to focus on tax and monetary reform rather than obsessing solely on the deficit:



Think Progress previews the left’s line of attack on Republicans: “Invest and Grow vs. Slash and Burn.”

At Alhambra Investments, Joe Calhoun suggests current Fed policy may provide a window for overdue fiscal policy reforms.

The NY Sun explains why the dollar’s value should be fixed.

On The Kudlow Report, Tamny debates high commodity prices:



The Independent Institute reprints Richard K. Vetter’s recent congressional testimony on why money creation doesn’t stimulate employment. (Hat tip: Atlas Sound Money Project.)

On Forbes, Steve Forbes interviews George Gilder on the future of technology.

From the weekend WSJ, Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser explains his skepticism regarding Ben Bernanke’s policy direction.

Mr. Plosser doesn't see a deflation risk for the U.S. economy right now. Even those who were worried about deflation six months ago, he says, have begun to change their tune. That means that, with moderate GDP growth and low inflation in the mix, the only thing left as an excuse for QE2 is high unemployment. Can lax monetary policy change that picture?

Mr. Plosser's answer is unequivocal: This mess was caused by over-investment in housing, and bringing down unemployment will be a gradual process. "You can't change the carpenter into a nurse easily, and you can't change the mortgage broker into a computer expert in a manufacturing plant very easily. Eventually that stuff will sort
itself out. People will be retrained and they'll find jobs in other industries. But monetary policy can't retrain people. Monetary policy can't fix those problems."

Friday update.

Larry Kudlow sees political uncertainty holding back business.

On The Kudlow Report, Sen. Tom Coburn suggests Washington policy is hostile to capital formation, investment and risk taking.

Also on Kudlow, a panel debates deflation vs inflation.

On CNBC, Steve Forbes explains the weak economy.

Jay Ambrose reports on a philanthropist's evolution in Africa from socialist to capitalist.

Paul Krugman recycles the Keynesian critique of Reaganomics, that tax cuts lead to rising interest rates. Here's the record from the 1980s:

From 2004, George Gilder defends Reagan's supply-side policies.

Since 1980, U.S. marginal tax rates fell some 40 percent on income and 75 percent on capital gains and dividends, and the American economy added close to 36 million jobs. During the same time period, Europe and Japan created scarcely any net new employment outside of government. American companies now constitute 57 percent of global market capitalization, and the U.S. commands close to one half of the world’s economic assets.

America, responsible for one fifth of global GDP in 1980, produced one third of global GDP in 2003....

Why then do critics still speak of “voodoo economics”? Why is it that even some supply-siders insistently deny that lower tax rates pay for themselves with higher revenues, when Reagan’s tax cutting regime brought about a fivefold rise in federal spending without increasing the government share of GDP? Why does the current administration still speak of $1.6 trillion tax cuts and $300 billion stimulus packages as if it cost money to reduce perverse and counterproductive government burdens?

One key reason is the stultifying grip of the demand-side model on the entire economics community. University and media economists still find themselves far behind Reagan in grasping the dynamics of an international economy. The economics profession functions like an establishment of flat earth physicists still patiently waiting for the ships of supply-siders to fall off the edge of the world.

While the economics profession remained lost in a maze of equilibrium models, Ronald Reagan knew the facts of entrepreneurial disequilibrium and creativity. To a supply-sider, government is a kind of business. It competes with other governments around the world. It competes to attract entrepreneurs and capital to its jurisdiction and to foster expansion of existing enterprises. By lowering marginal tax rates—the rates on additional activity—governments can induce people to produce and invest within their borders. By raising tax rates, they drive entrepreneurs to other jurisdictions and to non-taxable activities. That is why high tax rates do not redistribute incomes. They redistribute taxpayers out of taxable activities and onto golf courses, into barter exchanges and among foreign regimes with lower rates.

Thursday round up.

On The Kudlow Report, David Stockman wants full-fledged fiscal austerity (spending cuts + tax cuts).

Kudlow comments further on the discussion.

John Tamny analyzes Paul Krugman's solutions to the recession.

From last week, Alan Reynolds responds to Ezra Klein on stimulus.

In The WSJ, Seth Lipsky explains how much salaries have declined in terms of gold.

In an April interview, George Gilder hopes Tea Parties will stress tax cuts not spending cuts.

David Wessell reports free trade's comeback.

CEO Ziad K. Abelnour argues we need the rich.

National Review's Kevin D. Williamson regrets extension of the homebuyer's tax credit.

U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) suggests Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the root cause of the subprime crisis.

Liberal economist Josh Bivens makes the case for growth over deficit phobia.

Former Treasury official John B. Taylor opposes the financial reform bill.