From Forbes, Chris Barth reports David Malpass argues the dollar should rise due to tighter money, not the falling euro.
In Bloomberg, Amity Shlaes challenges Paul Krugman on fiscal austerity.
A reader comments:
Amity Schlaes pens an austerity-can-lead-to-growth op-ed, dismissing Paul Krugman’s call for more Keynesian spending, but commits a startling error:
…There is evidence that austerity did lead to growth in the past, and that it did not cause fascism. These examples may be less known, but they suggest that austerity can bring recovery faster than spending can.
A strong example in U.S. history is the recession of the early 1920s. Responding to a downturn, the federal government didn’t spend; it cut itself in half. Recovery followed so rapidly few people even remember that recession.
Brian Domitrovic has written how there was virtual consensus between Presidents Wilson’s and Harding’s money men on reducing top marginal rates before the election, so how could Shlaes forget Mellon’s tax cutting agenda that kicked off the Roaring Twenties? The Revenue Act of 1921 brought the top marginal tax rate down to 58% in 1922 from 73%, and with subsequent reductions, Mellon was able to get that top tax rate down to 25% by 1925. The austerity of the 1920s did not take place without efforts to foster economic growth. In this, Shlaes was sloppy.
On NRO, Larry Kudlow reports Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) pushing for the Keystone Pipeline in exchange for the payroll tax cut.
On The Kudlow Report, Steve Forbes discusses National Review’s editorial opposing Newt Gingrich:
From Forbes, Louis Woodhill argues pro-growth policies explain Gingrich’s rise.
At The American, James Pethokoukis suggests Gingrich’s Iowa lead is softening.
In The American Spectator, Ben Stein predicts President Gingrich and Vice President Huntsman.
At The WSJ, Dan Henninger portrays Gingrich as Mitt Romney’s sparring partner, toughening the former governor up to debate President Obama.
On NRO, Elise Jordan sees Jon Huntsman failing to capitalize on recent opportunities.
At Forbes, Jerry Bowyer highlights the role of interest rates to functional economic and financial systems.
From First Trust, Brian Wesbury predicts unemployment will be down to 8% by Election Day.
On The WSJ, Steve Cortes argues the Chinese economic model won’t work in the long run:
In The WSJ, conservative Keynesian Martin Feldstein pans the Eurozone economic deal.
On C-SPAN, PIIE’s C. Fred Bergsten – Keynesian and key intellectual driver of the 1970s dollar devaluation and subsequent Great Inflation – argues more American jobs will come from rebalancing world trade by lowering the dollar’s exchange rate to a competitive level (around minute 13).