Wednesday summary: Domitrovic on the Gold Commission; Romney discusses the flat tax and gold standard; Pethokoukis on tax fairness.

From Forbes, Brian Domitrovic provides the history behind Newt Gingrich’s Gold Commission.

The WSJ uses Mitt Romney’s tax return to argue for fundamental tax reform.

On NRO, Larry Kudlow reports Romney believes the President’s class warfare strategy is designed with him (Romney) in mind.

From Forbes, Steve Forbes advises Mitt Romney to come out with a strong pro-growth, pro-capitalism message.

On The Kudlow Report, Romney critiques Gingrich’s flat tax plan and suggests, oddly, that Congress could manipulate the dollar’s exchange rate under the gold standard:



At The American, James Pethokoukis responds to the President on tax fairness.

From PJ Media, David Goldman argues the true unemployment rate, about 1 in 4, guarantees a single term for President Obama.

At RCM, John Tamny suggests hedge fund success implies stock market weakness.

On Peter Schiff’s radio show, Steve Forbes critiques Romney on the China currency debate:




IBD explains Dodd-Frank’s highly negative effect on small and community banks.

CNSNews notes commodity price increases under President Obama.

At Barron’s, Pimco’s Bill Gross suggests the economy is pulled between deflationary and inflationary forces:




From The Hoover Institution, Richard Epstein critiques Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren’s economic proposals.

The NYT highlights the President’s tough talk on China.

Weekend round up: Kadlec and Strassel praise Cain; Lott and Moore on the unemployment report; Wallison on capital requirements.

From Forbes, Charles Kadlec credits Herman Cain with raising pro-growth politics above austerity.

In The WSJ, Kim Strassel applauds Cain’s growth message.

On Free Banking, Kurt Schuler agrees with Ralph Benko’s recent defense of the gold standard.

At Fox News, John Lott explains that the new unemployment numbers indicate many people leaving the job market.

On The Kudlow Report, Stephen Moore debates the unemployment numbers:

 

At Forbes, Nathan Lewis explains the difference between money and credit.

The NY Sun wonders if the Federal Reserve is conducting monetary policy for Europe.

On his blog, Greg Mankiw suggests ECB head Mario Draghi is offering to loosen Eurozone monetary policy in exchange for fiscal tightening.

In The WSJ, Peter Wallison argues capital requirement rules skewed US balance sheets to mortgage-backed securities before 2008, and today skew European balance sheets in favor of soverign debt:
On Rayedio Lounge, Wayne Jett discusses last week’s market upswing.

Although these rules are intended to match capital requirements with the risk associated with each of these asset types, the match is very rough. Thus, financial institutions subject to the rules had substantially lower capital requirements for holding mortgage-backed securities than for holding corporate debt, even though we now know that the risks of MBS were greater, in some cases, than loans to companies. In other words, the U.S. financial crisis was made substantially worse because banks and other financial institutions were encouraged by the Basel rules to hold the very assets—mortgage-backed securities—that collapsed in value when the U.S. housing bubble deflated in 2007.

Today's European crisis illustrates the problem even more dramatically. Under the Basel rules, sovereign debt—even the debt of countries with weak economies such as Greece and Italy—is accorded a zero risk-weight. Holding sovereign debt provides banks with interest-earning investments that do not require them to raise any additional capital.

At The American, Alex Pollock notes the financial triangle between the Fed, the Treasury, and GSEs.

In The Washington Post, George Will explains Obamacare’s harm to the entrepreneurial economy.

On Fox Business News, John Tamny argues saving, not consumer spending, is the root of economic progress:

The WSJ reports China’s mounting economic difficulties.

At The Spectator (UK), Fraser Nelson notes Steve Forbes calling for tax cuts in England and Europe rather than austerity.

From The WSJ, Alfonso Alguilar praises Newt Gingrich’s immigration position and claims restrictionism is not conservative.

At The Washington Post, Bill Gross predicts a lower euro, and by inference, a higher dollar.

The WSJ notes GOP members of Congress blocking Sarbox reform.

CNN examines Newt Gingrich’s economic plan:

 

On Forbes, Jerry Bowyer advocates expelling Greece and other southern European nations from the euro.

US News features a weak analysis of Federal Reserve critics.

Tuesday update: Domitrovic on past gold standard errors; Benko on the euro and gold; Asness on bad policy.

On Forbes, Brian Domitrovic outlines ten mistakes to avoid under a gold standard.

At Forbes, Ralph Benko proposes a fusion of Robert Mundell and John Tamny to save the euro with a link to gold.

In The WSJ, Clifford Asness argues bad policy, not uncertainty, is the root of the economy’s trouble.

From the Gold Money Foundation, American Principles Project Chairman Sean Feiler discusses the group’s gold standard project:



On Forbes, Charles Kadlec chides NRO’s Kevin Williamson for his growth skepticism but applauds House Republicans and Tim Pawlenty.

At The Freedomist, William Collier, Jr. bashes Williamson for prioritizing deficits over growth.

On NRO, Williamson makes a positive contribution on inflation.

From Bloomberg, National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru proposes middle class tax reform featuring a big increase in the child tax credit while reducing deductions and lowering the floor on the top tax bracket.

On Dick Morris TV, Morris provides an interesting assessment of the GOP debate. Most disappointing, Pawlenty was seen widely to have been timid and uncertain:




At Business Insider, Joe Weisenthal doubts Bill Gross’s warnings on Treasuries.

On CNBC, John Carney cites a Federal Reserve analysis that uses the Taylor Rule to indicate that for peripheral European nations, the euro’s interest rates are too high.