Monday summary: Benko on congressional sound money legislation; Tamny on GDP; Wenzel on the Fed's tight money error of summer 2008.

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 WSJ suggests 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.

Monday round up: Benko rebuts Bernanke on gold, Tamny explains why bailouts hurt recovery, and Steve Moore sees Republicans winning the budget debate.

On Forbes, Ralph Benko responds to Ben Bernanke’s critique of the gold standard.

Also from Forbes, John Tamny explains why bank bailouts hurt the economy.

In The WSJ, Stephen Moore suggests Republicans have won the DC budget fight so far.

From Wisconsin, Michael Moore urges class warfare rather than union benefit cuts:



From Seeking Alpha, David Beckworth argues excess liquidity, not a savings glut, caused the last decade’s credit and housing boom.

On ISI, Brian Domitrovic defends capitalism from a conservative critic.

At RCM, Larry Kudlow embraces the possibility of a government shutdown.

From The Kudlow Report, Dan Mitchell debates federal spending:



In The WSJ, Arthur Brooks suggests Americans say they want a generous government Santa but then detest big government.

At his blog, Robert Wenzel defends U.S. Rep. Ron Paul (TX) from a ridiculous critique by Fed official David Andolfatto.

On Asia Times, David Goldman posits that restricted immigration is harming the recovery.

From the archive, the IMF interviews Robert Mundell.

Weekend items: Rose roundtable on gold, Benko on the dollar standard, Kudlow on Utah's gold bill.

From December, Charlie Rose hosts an excellent roundtable on gold and the dollar.
(h/t: Ralph Benko)

At TGSN, Ralph Benko lists nine weaknesses that accompany a dollar standard, including necessitating a perpetual trade deficit while enabling a chronic budget deficit.

On Asia Times, David Goldman notes the recovery remains weak and lopsided.

At The Kudlow Report, Larry discusses Utah’s bill recognizing gold and silver as legal tender:



The NY Sun analyzes the latest exchange between House Monetary Policy Subcommittee Chairman Ron Paul (TX) and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

From Forbes, Bill Flax explains that inflation is never a good policy.

Also on Kudlow, John Tamny debates unions, budgets, and Social Security reform:



At Huffington Post, Nathan Lewis explains the conservative critique of unions.

On Forbes, Reuven Brenner advocates putting public union compensation to a vote.

ABC promotes “buy America” as the solution to U.S. unemployment:



On NRO, Larry Kudlow notes that so far high oil hasn’t derailed the stock market.

From New World Economics, Nathan Lewis discusses bank reserves.

At COAL, Paul Krugman argues that British budget cuts haven’t increased business confidence:


On Time, David Von Drehle suggests claims of rising inequality are overblown.

At Lew Rockwell, Robert Wenzel blasts Karl Rove and supply-side economics.