At RCM, Louis Woodhill critiques Ben Bernanke’s anti-gold speech, citing Barry Eichengreen’s Golden Fetters to argue for a gold-price rule rather than a full gold standard.
In Forbes, Brian Domitrovic rebuts Bernanke and disputes Eichengreen’s analysis.
The EPPC features an excellent FT article on global currency by Martin Wolf and a John Mueller response advocating the gold standard.
From Asia Times, Martin Hutchinson uses the Laffer Curve to assess optimum tax rates.
On The Kudlow Report, US Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) argues Obamacare will push employers out of offering health insurance and bankrupt the government:
In The NY Sun, Ira Stoll critiques US Rep. Paul Ryan’s (WI) budget plan.
At Calafia Beach Pundit, Scott Grannis suggests Ben Bernanke’s monetary policy is too cautious.
Bloomberg features a history of the dollar, gold and debt. (And here.)
In The NYT, Bruce Bartlett acknowledges that the British experiment with 50% top tax rates has failed.
From Forbes, Louis Woodhill provides a tutorial on monetary issues.
On Forbes, Steve Forbes critiques the Fed’s approach to rescuing the housing market.
AP reports Congress reaffirmed punitive tariffs against China for export subsidies. On The Kudlow Report, Phil Kerpen of Americans for Prosperity argues Obamacare will drive employers out of private insurance:
At PJ Media, Jaime Daremblum highlights the danger of Argentina’s capital inflight and inflation.
On RCM, John Tamny argues California’s best days are ahead of it.
In The WSJ, Dan Henninger applauds Rick Santorum for emphasizing Obamacare’s threat to personal freedom.
On Kudlow, James Pethokoukis discusses the GOP’s prospects for November:
Market News International reports US Rep. Kevin Brady (TX) proposing a bill to eliminate the Federal Reserve’s unemployment mandate.
From The Atlas Sound Money Project, Nicolas Cachanosky notes lack of consensus about which gold standard opponents reject.
At Supply-Side Forum, Ed Breen critiques the Romney tax plan.
The WSJnotes the Fed is weighing sterilized bond purchases (h/t: Larry Kudlow).
Reuters reports China refuses to bow to US pressure to appreciate the yuan (h/t: Bretton Woods Research).
On The Kudlow Report, former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie suggests Obamacare should be central to the 2012 campaign:
IBDrebuts Paul Krugman's claim that President Reagan was a better Keynesian than President Obama. From First Trust, Brian Wesbury highlights the French proposal to raise the top tax rate to 75%. In IBD, James Carter and Jason Fichtner advocate the corporate tax becoming a major campaign issue. At CNBC, John Carney contrasts Austrian economics with Modern Monetary Theory. In Forbes, Richard Salsman advocates positive financial reforms. At TGSN, Ralph Benko notes the monetary difficulties following abolition of the First National Bank. The Federation for American Immigration Reform argues against legal immigration. H/t Bruce Bartlett: “As I have long said, those that are opposed to illegal immigration are really opposed to legal immigration as well.”
Businessweekreports cigarettes are the most stable international currency. On Modeled Behavior, Karl Smith agrees with Paul Krugman that opponents of demand-side solutions to the 2008 financial crisis destructively undermined a helpful consensus.
The Fed first tried QE, as it's called, with $1.75 trillion of bond purchases starting in December 2008, but that was at the height of the financial panic when markets were frozen. The Fed's justification for this current round is that inflation is too low and growth too slow to reduce unemployment. The Fed promised to buy $600 billion in bonds for starters, and to keep buying until the rate of inflation rises, presumably above its 2% target.
This is a terribly risky strategy for what we expect will be little economic gain. The Fed hopes the policy will have the effect of reducing long-term interest rates by 25 to 50 basis points or more, but the 10-year Treasury bond is already near historic lows. Marginal business borrowers aren't worried about the price of money; they're worried about the vagaries of economic policy. QE2 only adds to this uncertainty, as the Fed expands its role into fiscal policy and credit allocation.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bernanke's monetary cowbell will flow into higher commodity prices and other assets, perhaps leading to more bubbles. It has already caused havoc around the world, as investors flee the dollar for other currencies. Dollar-bloc countries are already seeing an increase in their price levels and several are contemplating capital controls.
In The Financial Times, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (WI) emphasizes growth – including sound money.
On The Kudlow Report, Brian Wesbury sees the Fed funds rate as too low and likely to lead to inflation:
At Forbes, Steve Forbes suggests provisions to change in Obamacare.
From the Mises Institute, Austrian Robert Murphy challenges "60 Minutes" on taxes.
Australia’s you.com discusses the effect of tax rates on the Rolling Stones (H/T: Greg Mankiw):
The Stones are famously tax-averse. I broach the subject with Keith in Camp X-Ray, as he calls his backstage lair. There is incense in the air and Ronnie Wood drifts in and out--it is, in other words, a perfect venue for such a discussion. "The whole business thing is predicated a lot on the tax laws," says Keith, Marlboro in one hand, vodka and juice in the other. "It's why we rehearse in Canada and not in the U.S. A lot of our astute moves have been basically keeping up with tax laws, where to go, where not to put it. Whether to sit on it or not. We left England because we'd be paying 98 cents on the dollar. We left, and they lost out. No taxes at all. I don't want to screw anybody out of anything, least of all the governments that I work with. We put 30% in holding until we sort it out." No wonder Keith chooses to live not in London, or even New York City, but in Weston, Conn.
Of course, it wasn't just the taxman's pinch that forced the Rolling Stones to focus on the bottom line. They also got screwed by record labels. "In the early days you got paid absolutely nothing," recalls Jagger. "The only people who earned money were the Beatles because they sold so many records."
