Wednesday summary: Moore on Simpson-Bowles; Pethokoukis on the financial crisis; Karlgaard on the euro.

In The WSJ, Stephen Moore reports the President may embrace Simpson-Bowles to regain credibility as a fiscal moderate.

At The American, James Pethokoukis notes a study refuting the prevailing progressive narrative of the financial crisis.

From NRO, Reihan Salam suggests the US is moving back towards the top of the Laffer Curve.

On The Kudlow Report, Rich Karlgaard discusses the falling euro:



In The WSJ, Harvey Golub compares the current recovery to 11 past.

On NRO, Thomas Sowell recounts Andrew Mellon’s tax cut arguments.

The Hill reports the Alliance for American Manufacturing pushing for currency manipulation requirements in future trade agreements.

In The NYT, Andrew Sorkin argues the Glass-Steagall Act wouldn’t have prevented the mortgage crisis.

Weekend update: Lewis on the euro; Calhoun on the post-QE2 dollar; Rutledge on inflation.

From Forbes, Nathan Lewis explains why Europe is better off with a single currency.

On RCM, Joe Calhoun suggests the dollar’s post-QE2 rise will lead to stronger U.S. growth.

At The WSJ, Art Laffer and Stephen Moore report the population shift from forced union states to right-to-work states.

On The Kudlow Report, John Rutledge sees inflation picking up:




From Forbes, Peter Ferrara continues his comparison of Reaganomics with Obamanomics.

On Forbes, Rich Karlgaard explains the importance of economic growth.

At Forbes, Reuven Brenner links the mortgage crisis to government’s interference in credit markets.

On Kudlow, James Pethokoukis and Deroy Murdock discuss the debt limit:




At The Washington Post, Karen Hube recounts the benefits to average families of tax expenditures (h/t: Vlad Signorelli).

The NY Daily News reports that young New Yorkers say they will leave the city due to high taxes and unemployment.

Wednesday items: Forbes predicts return to gold standard; Stern supports lower corporate tax rates; Goldman on banks' risk aversion.

From Human Events, Steve Forbes predicts a return to the gold standard in the next five years.

The NY Sun notes that Forbes’ comments were picked up as a banner headline on the Drudge Report and wonders why leading Republicans are ignoring the issue.

In Politico, former SEIU president Andy Stern supports lowering the corporate tax rate. (H/t: Ralph Benko.)

On The Kudlow Report, Tamar Jacoby debates the President’s proposal to allow more skilled workers to immigrate to the U.S.:




At Asia Times, David Goldman suggests banks are unwilling to take risks in the current environment.

ABC’s Jonathan Karl reports Newt Gingrich will speak this week to a group organized by Art Laffer as part of his candidacy rollout.

From RCM, Brian Wesbury cites the end of mark-to-market accounting rules in March 2009 as the key to the economy’s recovery.

At TGSN, Ralph Benko explains that gold-backed paper money is highly effective as a medium of exchange and a store of value.

Friday items.

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. Holiday travel has kept me away from the laptop.
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In The WSJ, Alan Reynolds rebuts the claim that U.S. tax policy disproportionately benefits top taxpayers.

At The Future of Capitalism, Reynolds clarifies further.

On Forbes, Ralph Benko sees U.S. Rep. Mike Pence (IN) as the leading pro-growth Republican, and calls for him to run for president.

At The Kudlow Report, Don Luskin examines fears of municipal bond meltdowns:



On RCM, John Tamny defends speculators as vital to healthy markets.

At Forbes, Brian Domitrovic clarifies George H.W. Bush’s “voodoo economics” statement.

On Bloomberg, Dan Mitchell says the tax deal will help business and the economy.

On Fox Business, Steve Forbes analyzes the options for tax reform:



Also in Forbes, Rich Karlgaard explains the secrets of economic health.

On NRO, Michael Barone notes the fastest growth states over the last decade were those without income taxes.

Also at NRO, Deroy Murdock defends top rate tax payers.

On The Freeman, Christopher Lingle disputes the notion that consumption drives economic growth.

Monday update.

In The WSJ, Stephen Moore and Richard Vedder argue higher taxes don’t lead to lower deficits.

Reuters reports supply-side guru Robert Mundell advising Gulf states to maintain their fixes to the dollar.

On The Kudlow Report, Larry and Steve Forbes discuss the role the weak dollar played in the mortgage crisis:




In The NYT, Greg Mankiw praises the Bowles-Simpson plan for eliminating tax expenditures and reducing tax rates.

On Forbes, Rich Karlgaard sees prices rising despite low core inflation statistics.

On The Huffington Post, Amanda Terkel reports on Warren Buffet’s demand-side analysis of not raising tax rates.

"I think that people at the high end, people like myself, should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it," he told ABC's Christiane Amanpour in a clip played on "This Week" on Sunday.

When Amanpour pointed to critics' claims that the very wealthy need tax cuts to spur business and capitalism, Buffett replied, "The rich are always going to say that, you know, 'Just give us more money, and we'll go out and spend more, and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you.' But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on."

In Business Week, Chris Farrell blames Ireland’s trouble on supply-side economics.

At The Economist, Will Wilkinson rebuts The NYT’s Nicholas Kristof on income inequality.

On The WSJ, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission member Peter Wallison suggests government policy caused the mortgage and financial meltdown, but leaves out the weak dollar:




MarketWatch reports China is considering raising the yuan to stave off inflation.

On Youtube, Don Boudreaux provides an animated conversation US/China trade:

Thursday items.

On RCM, Louis Woodhill posits the novel theory that the Fed’s Interest on Reserves program caused the 2008 financial crisis.

At Forbes, Econoclasts author Brian Domitrovic explains that the world is desperate for the U.S. to stabilize the dollar.

On The Kudlow Report, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) discounts demand side economics and underscores sound money:




On Forbes, Charles Kadlec advocates a gold-based international currency system.

At NRO, Larry Kudlow expresses cautious optimism about the deficit commission report.

Reuters reports the commission’s tax reform options.

Also on Kudlow, James Pethokoukis debates how to pay for the Bush tax rate extension:




The NYT hosts a debate on the gold standard but can’t find a single pro-gold economist.

At IBD, Walter Williams debunks trade deficit paranoia.

From Vlad Signorelli at Bretton Woods Research:

Reports this morning that Obama may have 'conceded' on extending Bush-era tax cuts for upper incomes may have been premature. The National Journal reports that [presidential advisor David] Axelrod clarified his stance around 9am, signaling the White House is still opposed to the idea.

Nonetheless, Obama's rhetoric is slowly evolving for the better as he is now conceding that economic growth is at least just as good as tax increases in reducing the deficit. Today, Obama made the point in Seoul that if economic growth increased by "1 percentage point over time that could have as much impact as completely eliminating the Bush tax cuts." And he added, "The single most important thing we can do to reduce our debt and deficits is to grow." Therefore, despite Axelrod's inept comments this morning, Obama seems to be gravitating toward growth solutions, which may spare expiration of Bush-era tax cuts on all.

On Forbes, Rich Karlgaard sees the worst of the recession as past.

From 2007, Art Laffer clarifies the claim that tax rates pay for themselves.

Tuesday summary.

On Asia Times, David Goldman recounts his quantitative easing-related investments.

At RCM, John Tamny explains that the repatriation tax doesn’t keep dollars offshore.

On CNBC, Americans for Tax Reform’s Grover Norquist debates tax policy:




At The New Republic, supply-side critic Jonathan Chait advises Democrats to vote separately on extending tax rates for middle versus upper income earners.

On Forbes, Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein view increased U.S. imports as a positive sign.

From last week, Art Laffer debates government’s impact on the economy:




From Alhambra Investment, Joseph Y. Calhoun, III suggests quantitative easing will harm average people.

At Cato, Dan Mitchell wonders if death taxes impact people dying.

At last weekend’s Jon Stewart Rally, Second City asks, “Is President Obama a Keynesian?”:




On Forbes, Rick Karlgaard handicaps likely Republican presidential contenders from a business perspective.

On NRO, Thomas Sowell reviews a new book on the Great Depression.

Thursday items.

Housekeeping note: I've added Alan Reynold's 1984 piece, "Managed Money" to the Classic Articles section.
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The WSJ reports that following this week’s strong dollar comments, Treasury’s Tim Geithner advocates a global exchange-rate agreement.

At NRO, Larry Kudlow wonders if Sec. Geithner is serious about wanting a stronger dollar.

On The Kudlow Report, David Goldman discusses Geithner’s remaks:



At Seeking Alpha, John M. Mason comments on Robert Mundell’s recent WSJ interview.

On Catholic Culture, Dr. Jeff Mirus summarizes Goldman and Reuven Brenner’s recent article on Keynesian economics.

Keynes’ idea is simple. In fact, it is simple by construction, for it focuses on the very short term within a closed economy. If consumers won’t spend, the government will spend for them; if businesses won’t invest, the government will invest for them; and if investors won’t take risks, the central bank will reduce the yield on low-risk investments to almost nothing. The risk-taking of entrepreneurs, the cleverness of inventors, the skills and motivation of the workforce, the competitiveness of industries—all the granular reality of a dynamic society, chugging along through trial and error—vanish into Keynesian aggregates like gross domestic product, price indices, productivity, and so forth. Behind all the technical language stands the assumption that bureaucracies, with no business experience whatsoever, can somehow make wise decisions about allocating capital—and do so quickly. These gross simplifications take on the aura of academic theurgy when packaged into seemingly complex mathematical models that occult their ridiculous assumptions.

The Telegraph (UK), Terry Smith argues against raising British tax rates.

At Forbes, Rich Karlgaard suggests the key to restoring economic growth is more small companies reaching the billion-dollar mark.

In Investor’s Business Daily, David Beckworth and William Ruger critique Fed policy from a monetarist perspective.

On Kudlow, Don Luskin says the Fed not the Treasury determines the dollar’s value:



Cato’s Dan Mitchell wonders why distrust of government seems to be a partisan issue.

Thursday update.

On Bloomberg TV, Keynesian C. Fred Bergsten of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, calls China a currency manipulator for keeping the yuan stable, and advocates the U.S. buy Chinese currency.

At Café Hayek, Don Boudreaux explains that Chinese trade doesn’t diminish good jobs in the U.S.

On The Kudlow Report, Larry discusses rising oil and other commodities:



The WSJ’s David Wessell reports on a new paper suggesting low Fed interest rates caused the housing bubble.

On Asia Times, David Goldman suggests we have symptoms of deflation and inflation because:

When the Fed prints money, investors flee to other currencies, and foreign central banks intervene and buy dollars which they invest in Treasuries. It has precisely the same effect as the Fed’s own buying of bonds — yields fall. This increases the risk of future inflation so the market buys hedges against it (and you should, too).

The WSJ editorial board warns Democrats and Republicans against scapegoating China.

On CNBC, Paul Krugman calls China “the bad guy” in the currency war, and advocates for trillions in additional quantitative easing:



Reuters reports increased unemployment and inflation.

At Conscience of a Liberal, Krugman makes a convincing argument that the scariest part of debt-to-GDP analysis is the weak GDP:


At Forbes, Rich Karlgaard applauds Greg Mankiw’s recent tax analysis.

On The Kudlow Report, Stephen Moore analyzes the President’s NYT contrition:



Seeker Blog discusses Douglas Irwin’s recent paper, “Did France Cause the Great Depression?”

From 1997, Jude Wanniski argues the Great Depression was solely a fiscal crisis.

From June, John Tamny suggests there was a deflationary component in the 1920s.

Monday items.

At NRO’s Corner, Alan Reynolds points out that even with a static analysis, raising taxes on the wealthy would pay for nine days of the federal deficit.

At Forbes, John Tamny explains that the estate tax encourages the rich to consume rather than save.

From the weekend, Larry Kudlow sees the Tea-Party as good for markets.

The Heritage Foundation forecasts the negative impact of the President’s proposed tax increases.

On Forbes, Steve Forbes interviews Burton Malkiel (part two).

At AEI’s The American, Raghuram Rajan responds to Paul Krugman’s recent critique.

On Forbes, Rich Karlgaard covers a union boss accusing businesses of treason for not hiring or investing.

At Reason, Tim Cavanaugh cites Brian Domitrovic’s Econoclasts in comparing the current malaise to the 1970s.

In The NYT, GMU’s Tyler Cowen advocates inflation, despite rising gold and commodity prices.

On Daily Markets, Cam Hui blames the international gold standard for the Great Depression.

In his 1999 Nobel Prize lecture, Robert Mundell suggested it was mismanagement of the gold standard that caused the crisis.

World War I made gold unstable. The instability began when deficit spending pushed the European belligerents off the gold standard, and gold came to the United States, where the newly-created Federal Reserve System monetized it, doubling the dollar price level and halving the real value of gold. The instability continued when, after the war, the Federal Reserve engineered a dramatic deflation in the recession of 1920-21, bringing the dollar (and gold) price level 60 percent of the way back toward the prewar equilibrium, a level at which the Federal Reserve kept it until 1929.

It was in this milieu that the rest of the world, led by Germany, Britain and France, returned to the gold standard. The problem was that, with world (dollar) prices still 40 percent above their prewar equilibrium, the real value of gold reserves and supplies was proportionately smaller. At the same time monetary gold was badly distributed, with half of it in the United States. In addition, uncertainty over exchange rates and reparations (which were fixed in gold) increased the demand for reserves. In the face of this situation would not the increased demand for gold brought about by a return to the gold standard bring on a deflation? A few economists, like Charles Rist of France, Ludwig von Mises of Austria and Gustav Cassel of Sweden, thought it would.

Weekend edition.

On Forbes, Rich Karlgaard explains President Reagan and his supply-side allies favored small business over big.

At The NY Times website, Jeffrey A. Miron examines why lower tax rates help upper and lower income earners.

On The Kudlow Report, Larry asks if President Obama is moving right on the economy.

In his column, Kudlow suggests the President's economic policies are ineffective and that attacking President Bush and GOP leader Boehner will flop.

At New World Economics, Nathan Lewis discusses the relationship between gold and silver.

Brian Wesbury applauds the President's proposal to let companies expense capital investment.

Also on Kudlow, Peter Navarro and John Taylor debate Fed policy.

Cato's Dan Mitchell comments on federal workers owing back taxes.

From last month, economist Steve Landsburg analyzes the Laffer Curve analysis on Ezra Klein's blog. At bottom, Joseph Calhoun makes a good comment (H/T: Joe Calhoun).

Weekend round up.

The Kudlow Report debates whether the Fed is too easy.

At Forbes, Rich Karlgaard theorizes why gold and Treasury-yields are sending conflicting signals.

Don Luskin considers last week's stock market drop.

In The Weekly Standard, Stephen Hayes explains the folly of raising taxes now.

At Reason, Jon Basil Utley discusses the burden of regulation.

At dailyfinance.com, Charles Hugh Smith analyzes income distribution but omits the dollar's decline as a cause.

Hyundai is using the weak dollar in its ads.

Wednesday round up.

At IBD, Jed Graham explains how growth rates impact fiscal deficits.

Michael J. Boskin debunks the President's economic analysis.

Brian Wesbury predicts solid economic growth.

At Fox News, Greta Van Sustern interviews The WSJ's Stephen Moore.

Rebelyid.com compares Laffer and Krugman.

CEO Jim Prevor rebuts Keynesian Alan Blinder.

Calwatchdog.com analyzes tax rates and budget deficits.

Rich Karlgaard wonders why more pundits don't ask employers why they aren't hiring.

Bloomberg's Caroline Baum examines employment statistics.

At NRO, Amity Schlaes challenges Conrad Black's analysis of FDR.

Megan McArdle suggests substituting spending for tax cuts is weak stimulus.

Newt Gingrich assesses barriers to job creation.

Congress presses the Fed to provide more monetary stimulus.

To increase exports, President Obama will pursue stalled trade deals.

Coin dealers are up in arms about a new tax on gold coins.

This site has a collection of Friedrich von Hayek interviews.

Wednesday items.

David Goldman predicts the federal government will bail out state governments.

In Forbes, Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein refute depression pessimists.

Joseph Calhoun thinks stocks are a bargain.

Forbes' Rich Karlgaard proposes ways to unleash sidelined wealth.

From May, Louis Woodhill explains that we can't tax our out of debt.

House Republicans pledge to make job creation their priority.

Newt Gingrich favors a pro-growth agenda.

George W. Bush economist Kevin Hassett opposes repealing the Bush tax cuts.

Prodigal supply-sider David Stockman offers his take on the Great Depression.

In The WSJ, Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr.

discusses the Keynes vs. Hayek debate. (Full text here.)

Atlas Shrugged villain Paul Krugman says Keynesianism will work if government spends more.

Krugman also