Thursday items: Forbes on Europe and Japan; Shlaes on supply-side austerity; Goldman on the rising dollar.

From Forbes, Steve Forbes wonders if the US can save Europe and Japan.

On Bloomberg, Amity Shlaes defends supply-side calls for fiscal austerity.

The Washington Post reports the dollar’s rise against the euro.

On The Kudlow Report, David Goldman discusses the rising dollar and the possibility of deflation:



From NRO, Larry Kudlow advocates extending the Bush tax rates.

On Calafia Beach Pundit, Scott Grannis links Fed policy to economic growth.

At IBD, Greg Hayes suggests the US would be more competitive with a territorial tax system.

The WSJ’s Notable & Quotable quotes actor Will Smith discussing tax rates on French TV:

Smith: I have no issue with paying taxes and whatever needs to be done for my country to grow. I believe very firmly that my ability to sit here—I'm a black man who didn't go to college, yet I get to travel around the world and sell my movies, and I believe very firmly that America is the only place on Earth that I could exist. So I will pay anything that I need to pay to keep my country growing. . . .

Interviewer: Do you know how much in France you would have to pay on earnings above one million euros [under new French President Francois Hollande's proposal]? Not 30%. 75%.

Smith: 75?! Yeah, that's different, that's different. Yeah, 75. Well, you know, God bless America.

In The WSJ, Allan Meltzer argues financial firms must be free to take risks, not regulated more.

Weekend edition: Domitrovic defends Romney's supply-side tax plan; Kudlow bashes the Fed's sterilized bond purchases; Grant critiques the Fed.

From Forbes, Brian Domitrovic defends Mitt Romney’s supply-side rhetoric.

On NRO, Larry Kudlow pans the Fed’s sterilized bond purchase plan.

At Forbes, Nathan Lewis explains a gold/dollar link would match currency supply with demand.

From Alhambra Partners, John Chapman suggests a US consensus on progressive taxation.

On CNBC, James Grant discusses the global loose money binge:



In The WSJ, Allan Meltzer notes similar patterns of wealth accumulation among the top 1% in European social democracies as in the US.

On US News, Bruce Yandle suggests bringing back the Misery Index.

In The WSJ, Stephen Moore argues California learn economic lessons from North Dakota.

From MarketWatch, Prof. Michael Bordo worries the Fed may be in danger of overshooting on inflation.

In The WSJ, George Melloan reviews a book on escalating compliance costs in US companies.

From The Manhattan Institute, Diana Furchgott-Roth refutes income inequality claims.

On The Kudlow Report, James Pethokoukis debates the latest job creation numbers:



At American Breaking Point, Charles Goyette remembers Jude Wanniski.

In Fiscal Times, Bruce Bartlett examines who is really rich today.

Thursday breakdown: Kudlow predicts a big Fed policy move in late August; Meltzer opposes QE and Keynesian stimulus; Hanke blames capital requirements for Italy's problems.

On NRO, Larry Kudlow anticipates a Bernanke QE3 announcement in late August at the Fed’s Jackson Hole retreat.

At RCM, John Tamny argues the Fed’s low interest rates contribute to economic weakness.

On Forbes, Louis Woodhill analyzes recent moves in gold, the Dow, and treasuries.

At Fox Business News, Lew Lehrman suggests a gold-convertible dollar would help stabilize the world economy.




In The WSJ, monetarist Allan Meltzer opposes additional quantitative easing or new stimulus spending.

At International Liberty, Cato’s Dan Mitchell lauds Meltzer’s prescriptions.

The Financial Times quotes Cato’s Steve Hanke on Europe’s financial crisis:

Steve Hanke, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University in the US city of Baltimore, noted that “capital-raising mania” in the eurozone to strengthen banks had sent M3 – a broad measure of money supply – into negative territory in Italy. “The economy won’t be far behind and, in consequence, all those debt-burden numbers will be knocked into a cocked hat,” he told the Financial Times.

At The WSJ, Stephen Moore reports the Super Committee’s ideological makeup makes a grand bargain unlikely.

On The Kudlow Report, Jimmy Pethokoukis discounts the prospects of a pro-growth deal from the budget Super Committee:




From Newsmax, Art Laffer recounts his advice to President Obama.

In The Washington Times, David Malpass assesses the debt downgrade.

At The CBS Early Show, Steve Forbes chides the Fed for trashing the dollar and predicts a return to a gold-linked dollar:




On COAL, Paul Krugman notes potential versus actual GDP.

Also at COAL, Krugman mocks The WSJ for its prediction that bond vigilantes would hike interest rates due to large fiscal deficits.

Thursday update: NPR links Ryan's budget to supply-side; Luskin critiques the ECB; Benko defends the classical gold standard.

NPR’s Marketplace suggests Paul Ryan’s budget plan is based on rosy assumptions rooted in supply-side economics.

Businessweek reports the European Central Bank’s rate hike.

On The Kudlow Report, Don Luskin critiques the ECB:



At TGSN, Ralph Benko defends the classical gold standard.

On Forbes, Richard Salsman recounts gold’s history in the 20th century.

In The Financial Times, Martin Wolf excludes the dollar standard from a discussion of global imbalances.

At The WSJ, Allan Meltzer debunks some monetary policy myths but repeats others.

Furthermore, the Fed treats gasoline and oil price increases as a transitory blip. That's almost certainly correct about the effect of Arab unrest or the Japanese tsunami. But much of the rise in oil prices came before these events and was in response to the strengthening world economy. Prices will likely continue to rise as the world economy grows. Meanwhile, world grain prices have been driven up by the foolish U.S. ethanol program. When ethanol raises corn prices, prices for substitutes like wheat and rice rise also. There is no sign that Congress will repeal the ethanol program.

On New Economic Perspectives, Bill Black critiques Stephen Moore’s recent article on makers versus takers.

At NRO’s Corner, Steven Hayward notes that rolling back the Bush tax cuts will hit the middle class most.

On Fox News, Dan Gainor reports George Soros is funding efforts to reform the international currency system starting with a meeting in Bretton Woods, NH.

Weekend update.

At Forbes, Nathan Lewis explains why many economists favor floating currency.

Also on Forbes, Bill Flax makes the libertarian case for a gold-backed currency.

In The WSJ, monetarist Allan Meltzer likens current Fed policy to the 1970s:

In the 1970s, despite rising inflation, members of the Federal Reserve's policy committee repeatedly chose to lower interest rates to reduce unemployment. Their Phillips Curve models, which charted an inverse relationship between unemployment and inflation, told them that inflation could wait and be addressed at a more opportune time. They were flummoxed when inflation and unemployment rose together throughout the decade.

In 1979, shortly after becoming Fed chairman, Paul Volcker told a Sunday talk-show audience that reducing inflation was the best way to reduce unemployment. He abandoned the faulty Phillips Curve thinking that unemployment was the enemy of inflation. And he told the Fed's staff that while he thought highly of their work, he did not find their inflation forecasts useful. Instead of focusing on near-term output and employment, he changed the Fed's policy to put more emphasis on the longer-term reduction of inflation. That required a persistent policy that President Reagan supported even in the severe 1982 recession.

We know the result: Inflation came down and stayed down. The Volcker disinflation ushered in two decades of low inflation and relatively steady growth, punctuated by a few short, mild recessions. And as Mr. Volcker predicted, the unemployment rate fell after the inflation rate fell. The dollar strengthened.

From RCM, Larry Kudlow suggests the economy is in better shape than the recent employment report indicates, but he worries about inflation.

In Human Events, Tony Lee recounts Jack Kemp’s role in Reagan’s success.

On Fox, Steve Forbes argues Reaganomics would fix today’s economy as well:




Cato’s Dan Mitchell posts a good video of Reagan.

The NYT quotes Art Laffer supporting Reaganomics with an unfortunate simile:

[O]ne of the most damning testimonials comes from a fan, the economist Arthur Laffer, ardent proponent of supply-side economics and father of the Laffer Curve.

“Trickle-down economics is if you feed the horse enough oats, the sparrow will survive on the highway,” he explains cheerfully.

On The Kudlow Report, Larry, Mrs. Kudlow, Stephen Moore and Craig Shirley discuss Reagan’s successes:




On Forbes, John Tamny argues Walmart boosts the economy.

At Dallas Blog, Fr. Charles McCloskey reviews Kemp-staffer John D. Mueller’s Redeeming Economics.

A Cato Institute study blames Fed monetary policy for recent market bubbles and warns of decapitalization.

Friday items.

At Forbes, historian and Econoclasts author Brian Domitrovic suggests higher economic growth, even at lower tax rates, would reduce the deficit.

On Asia Times, David Goldman agrees with Goldman Sachs’s estimate of $1650 gold.

At The Kudlow Report, Don Luskin abandons classical sound money and endorses monetary stimulus:




In The WSJ, monetarist Allan Meltzer argues Milton Friedman would opposed quantitative easing.

On The NYT, Paul Krugman points out that austerity has not been positive for Germany’s economy:



In The Financial Times, Brazil complains about U.S. monetary policy.

On CNBC, David Malpass analyzes the economy:



On Forbes, Reuven Brenner proposes a novel way to resolve the housing crisis.

The Shadow Stats site explains that inflation is significantly higher than CPI indicates:



In an op-ed, David Stockman strikes a hopeless note about the budget deficit.

Thursday items.

The WSJ editorial page rebuts Paul Krugman's attack on U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan's policy road map.

At Asia Times, David Goldman considers the Treasury market.

At businessinsider.com, Joe Weisenthal comments on David Goldman's latest Kudlow Report appearance.

At NRO, Kevin Williamson analyzes money supply's impact on capital flows.

In The WSJ, monetarist Allan Meltzer suggests Europe's economy has improved because of spending cuts. As a reminder, Robert Mundell predicted Europe would recover due to the euro's drop against the dollar to below $1.30.

From 2000, Mundell discusses the euro, the dollar and gold (starting on page 23).

At The American, Austrian Arnold Kling examines Keynesianism and bailouts.

In The Washington Post, Keynesian Ezra Klein compares the Bush and Obama tax cuts.

Wednesday articles.

Bret Swanson analyzes China's internet development.

David Goldman explains why he is bearish on bank stocks.

Stephen Spruiell interviews Allan Meltzer on inflation.

Amity Schlaes suggests expansive government threatens prosperity.

In Forbes, Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein argue trade deficits aren't a threat.

At The Freeman, Mark W. Hendrickson opposes protectionism.

Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein comments on Sen. McConnell's view that the Bush tax cuts didn't diminish revenue.

At Newsweek, Daniel Gross claims growth will help solve the deficit.