From The Financial Post (Canada), supply-side guru Robert Mundell sees a
bright future for the euro, but blames excessive spending and unstable exchange
rates for the Eurozone’s current troubles.
Also on The Financial Post, Terry Corcoran supports
Mundell’s analysis.
At Forbes, Nathan Lewis suggests a dual currency system
featuring gold for nations outside the major currency zones.
On The Kudlow Report, David Malpass discusses the
markets:
At The American, James Pethokoukis responds to Paul
Krugman’s claims that government spending led to the Reagan boom.
The WSJhighlights the President’s disastrous press
conference remarks on the economy.
At China Daily, Mundell applauds the People’s Bank of China
for lowering interest rates.
On CNBC, James Grant notes the Fed’s shrinking balance
sheet.
The WSJcriticizes Ben Bernanke for opposing spending
cuts, but applauds his rejection of tax increases.
From Forbes, Peter Ferrara compares the Obama economy to Argentina.
In The WSJ, Stephen Moore reports Democratic nervousness
about Taxmageddon.
At Newsmax, Steve Forbes advocates tax cuts rather than bailouts to revive Europe.
IBDnotes the President of Estonia’s response to Paul Krugman’s dismissal of its economic success.
From The Sun News Network, David Goldman doesn’t see a
way to keep the weak nations in the Eurozone:
On Fiscal Times, Bruce Bartlett notes the decline and
fall of organized labor.
From Market Watch, Harold Gold uses the Bush tax cuts to
declare supply-side economics false.
From the archive, here’s my assessment of the Bush tax
cuts.
On TGSN, Jon Decker reports the past use of vodka as a currency in Russia.
From Forbes, Peter Ferrara argues the true unemployment rate is 11%. In The WSJ, Anne Jolis notes the success of Sweden’s tax cuts and labor reforms. On The Kudlow Report, Don Luskin discusses the G-8 Summit:
China Dailyreports Robert Mundell discussing the complementarity of Taiwan and Fujian. On Bloomberg, Caroline Baum challenges Paul Krugman on the debt. From Financial Sense, Steve Forbes advocates free markets and gold.
At The WSJ, Stephen Moore highlights Nebraska’s GOP primary for the US Senate.
From Forbes, Brian Domitrovic responds to Barry Eichengreen’s latest anti-gold standard remarks.
At Café Hayek, Don Boudreaux notes the mercantilist roots of an Obama Administration trade policy.
In The WSJ, Stephen Moore reports Kansas’ progress towards a tax cut.
On The Kudlow Report, Benn Steil discusses whether the rising dollar, falling gold and weakening stock market suggest deflation:
At Parcbench, Scott Gillette advocates for a return to the gold standard. From Free Banking, Steve Horowitz rebuts Paul Krugman’s history of Gilded Age banking. In The WSJ, Stephen Moore notes the debate over tax cuts among Oklahoma Republicans.
From First Trust, Brian Wesbury suggests government not banks need a stress test.
From UVA’s Miller Center, Brian Domitrovic responds to Paul Krugman’s defense of the economic recovery.
Zerohedge highlights a James Grant interview on the Fed and the stock market. At NRO, Larry Kudlow argues Mitt Romney needs to widen his lead with the investor class. On The Kudlow Report, US Rep. Jeb Henserling (TX) debates tax policy:
TGSN recounts the history of William Jennings Bryan’s Cross of Gold. In The WSJ, Arthur Brooks suggests that generous social welfare programs demoralize workers.
From First Trust, Brian Wesbury predicts resurgent socialism in Europe will be short-lived.
Zerohedge features David Stockman discussing the Fed, debt and markets.
At Forbes, Jerry Bowyer explains how the economy is supposed to work.
In The Weekly Standard, Jeff Bell argues the President’s embrace of gay marriage will make it harder for him to win key swing states. At The American, James Pethokoukis applauds Arthur Brooks’ new book, The Road to Freedom. From Alhambra Partners, John Chapman analyzes Facebook’s economic impact.
From The WSJ, Alan Reynolds demolishes arguments for 70% tax rates on the rich (full text from Cato).
In The WSJ, Amar Bhide provides an excellent defense of the euro:
But here's the catch. Devaluation works its magic to the extent it doesn't trigger demands for wage hikes, even though a depreciating currency increases the price of imports and reduces the purchasing power of workers' incomes.
Now, individual employees might be susceptible to a money illusion and worry only about their nominal wages. But it isn't the demands of individual workers that make labor markets excessively rigid—it's unions and other such institutionalized players. Unions that won't negotiate pay cuts with employers are unlikely to allow devaluations to erode real wages through the back door. Indeed union contracts often contain protections against inflation....
Worse, devaluations clip the real incomes of those least able to afford the loss—the elderly who depend on their meager savings and pensions, low-wage employees who aren't unionized and lack valuable skills, and small businesses scraping along that don't get even a temporary boost to profit margins because they ply a purely local trade.
At Forbes, Brian Domitrovic explains the folly of investing in GM. In Human Events, John Hayward suggests a shift in the Left’s view of the Laffer Curve. On The Kudlow Report, US Rep. Ron Paul (TX) discusses the dollar and the economy:
At International Liberty, Dan Mitchell argues European austerity hasn’t been as severe as Paul Krugman suggests. The NY Sunrebuts Berkshire Hathaway’s Charles Munger on gold. In The Washington Times, Richard Rahn argues spending in Europe still increased during the recent debt crisis. From Alhambra Partners, Joe Calhoun sees some positive trends in the economy. On Fox Business News, Stephen Moore discusses state tax rates:
In The American Interest, Barry Eichengreen foresees declining use of the dollar in world commerce. From The WSJ, Justin Lahart suggests unemployment would be down to 7.1% without government spending cuts. At The NYT, Bruce Bartlett doubts rich people will relocate from the US if taxes go up.
From Forbes, Ralph Benko reports congressional sound money legislation.
At RCM, Louis Woodhill explains the terrible employment data. In Forbes, John Tamny analyzes the problem of reliance on GDP. On The Kudlow Report, Benn Steil discusses the eurozone crisis:
At The WSJ, James Bovard highlights efforts to create a happiness index to replace weak GDP statistics. From PJ Media, David Goldman explains declining labor force participation. On RCM, Keynesian Paul Samuelson sides with Ben Bernanke over Paul Krugman on inflation. At RCM, Bill Frezza notes the negative economic consequences of restrictive immigration policy. The Mises Institute features Robert Wenzel’s NY Fed speech, in which he cites his warning of the dramatic monetary tightening of summer 2008:
After growing at near double digit rates for months, money growth has slowed dramatically. Annualized money growth over the last 3 months is only 5.2 percent. Over the last two months, there has been zero growth in the M2NSA money measure.
This is something that must be watched carefully. If such a dramatic slowdown continues, a severe recession is inevitable.
We have never seen such a dramatic change in money supply growth from a double digit climb to 5 percent growth. Does Bernanke have any clue as to what the hell he is doing?
The WSJsuggests the new French president follow German chancellor Gerhard Schroder’s example.
At The NYT, Paul Krugman advocates breaking up the euro.
In The WSJ, Jon Huntsman notes the Chinese government’s profound economic insecurity.
From Liberty Law, Brian Domitrovic explains the damaging impact of Milton Friedman’s opposition to the gold standard and floating exchange rates.
In The WSJ, Don Luskin highlights the negative incentive effect of 2013’s tax rate increases. On The Kudlow Report, Stephen Moore debates Keynesian economics:
The WSJreports the decline in labor force participation to 1981’s level. At The American, James Pethokoukis suggests the true unemployment rate is 11.1%. IBDexplains that unemployment is substantially higher than the official number. In The WSJ, Holman Jenkins argues the best solution for the eurozone crisis is for Germany and other strong economies to withdraw and establish a new currency:
Can we admit now the simple lesson is against excessive debt? Don't be impressed by those who protest that Spain and Ireland were brought down by private-sector extravagance. If we've learned anything, in a debt crisis the distinction between public and private disappears. Too, a closer look shows the Irish state an intimate participant in Ireland's housing boom, collecting 40% of the price of every new home in taxes. In Spain, regional governments owned or controlled the lenders that financed the construction binge. A fixed exchange rate system is an especially unforgiving environment for a welfare state that destroys its ability to create wealth. But the universal lesson is: Don't be a welfare state that destroys its ability to create wealth.
In Forbes, Peter Ferrara argues Mitt Romney’s economic platform is practical versus the President’s extremism.
At The American, Pethokoukis refutes Paul Krugman’s claim that wealth inequality contributed to the credit boom. On International Liberty, Dan Mitchell notes an example of the Laffer Curve at work. At Forbes, Nathan Lewis examines how to modernize Social Security. From Bloomberg, James Grant discusses the Fed and markets:
In The NY Review of Books, Paul Krugman advocates higher deficits and inflation.
At Forbes, Brian Domitrovic explains the dollar’s gyrations damaging impact on the euro.
From Bloomberg, Obama economist Peter Orzag notes that the mortgage crisis destroyed the same amount of wealth as the dot-com bust and wonders why its result was so much more severe. Left out of his analysis is the Great Dollar Appreciation of 2008, which was a separate, economy-killing event from the initial mortgage bust.
At Streit Talk, Steve Hanke diagnoses the Eurozone’s travails, including Greece’s sharp deflationary environment.
On The Kudlow Report, Art Laffer debates the weak economy:
The NY Sunapplauds US Rep. Ron Paul’s recent TV debate with Paul Krugman as Hayek vs. Keynes. From Paper Money Collapse, Austrian economist Detlev Schlichter advises on how to debate Krugman (h/t: TGSN). At Fiscal Times, Liz Peek castigates Krugman for his pro-inflation bullying of Ben Bernanke. On Econlog, David Henderson defends Romney supporter Edward Conrad’s pro-wealth views from Krugman. In The Economist, Will Wilkinson critiques Stephen King’s call for tax increases. From First Trust, Brian Wesbury notes the economy’s slowing but remains optimistic. The NYTreports China’s vanishing current account surplus, but notes continued US pressure to revalue the yuan. On NRO, Kevin Hassett explains the negative impact on growth of policy uncertainty. From The WSJ, Dan Henninger notes the Obama Administration’s attempts to court young voters with handouts rather than growth and jobs:
At Econtalk, John Taylor discusses his new book, First Principles: Five Keys to Restoring America's Prosperity. TGSN recounts the Free Silver Movement’s history.
The NY Sunopposes Keynesian Paul Krugman’s call for increased inflation.
At Forbes, Ralph Benko repudiates Occupy Wall Street’s embrace of class warfare socialism. On Bloomberg TV, US Rep. Ron Paul debates Krugman:
In Forbes, John Tamny rues efforts to eliminate expensive healthcare. On his blog, Scott Grannis suggests slow growth is due to government spending offsetting productive investment. At City Journal, Herbert London reviews Jeff Bell’s The Case for Polarized Politics. The Economistexplains that global current account imbalances are largely due to oil exports. Free Market America goes viral with its environmental critique, “If I Wanted America to Fail”:
In The WSJ, Mary O’Grady reports on rising leftwing populism in Chile.
At City Journal, Brian Domitrovic critiques Noam Scheiber’s claim that recent Keynesian spending stimuli failed because they were too small.
From Alhambra Partners, John Chapman responds to calls for a third round of quantitative easing from the Fed. At Forbes, Tim Worstall suggests the eurozone cannot work without fiscal transfers between rich and poor states. Bloomberg reports Ben Bernanke’s public rejection of Paul Krugman’s call for higher inflation. Neither mentions the impact of the dollar’s seesawing exchange rate on inflation/deflation pressures.
The WSJnotes the recovery’s slow pace. At The American, James Pethokoukis rebuts Paul Krugman’s attack on fiscal austerity. From Forbes, Jerry Bowyer argues the US is declining, but not as fast as doomsayers like Glenn Beck imagine. At The American, Joel Kotkin, Mark Schill and Ryan Streeter highlight positive economic trends in the Midwest. In Forbes, Peter Ferrara designates Wisconsin’s public employee unions an aristocracy. On The Kudlow Report, a panel discusses the weaker-than-expected GDP numbers:
At Philanthropy Daily, Scott Walter notes the downside of religions partnering with governments. From Fiscal Times, Bruce Bartlett critiques the President’s scapegoating of oil speculators.
From Forbes, Charles Kadlec highlights Obama economist Christina Romer’s scholarly writing on the negative impact of tax increases.
The WSJnotes a rising threat to Europe’s borderless trade policy.
In Forbes, Ralph Benko profiles Art Laffer and Stephen Moore’s Rich States, Poor States.
At The WSJ, Paul Gigot and Dan Henninger discuss the Netherland’s proposed tax increases and declining growth:
At RCM, John Tamny explains that economic fairness makes everyone poorer. From Alhambra Partners, Joe Calhoun remains moderately bearish on the world economy.
At Forbes, Grove City Prof. Mark Hendrickson highlights the Obama Administration’s interest in a global corporate tax (h/t: Future of Capitalism).
In Barrons, Stanford's John Taylor critiques Keynesian tax stimulus and advocates rules-based monetary policy. At TGSN, Ralph Benko argues gold offers the best rule for monetary stability. In The WSJ, Stephen Moore reports Republicans may not win retiring Sen. Kent Conrad’s (ND) seat. On The Kudlow Report, Tamar Jacoby debates Arizona’s immigration policy:
In The NYT Magazine, Paul Krugman urges Fed Chairman Bernanke to increase inflation. At The WSJ, Peter Diamond and Emmanuel Saez argue higher top tax rates will generate more federal revenue and not harm growth. USA Todaydredges up hoary misconceptions about the gold standard.
