Ramesh Ponnuru's NYT OpEd Misses Some Points

Ramesh Ponnuru got a Sunday Times OpEd, which means he's probably sold his birthright for a bowl of porridge.

The Republican economic program of the 1980s also fought against government-imposed restrictions on economic activity: decontrolling energy prices, for example. Today we should target different restrictions. Software patents have become a source of unproductive litigation that entrenches large tech companies and inhibits creativity. Republicans shouldn’t support those patents. Economic growth has to trump corporate executives’ campaign donations.

My 92 year-old father-in-law argued the case before the SCOTUS in 1979 for software patents while he worked for Honeywell as a patent lawyer and WON. He gave me the yellow jacket Honeywell gave him---not even a pay raise. Nick Prasinos is a great fellow and he was in my home today singing Greek songs. I gave him one of my sweaters as a protection against the 44-degree cold snap here in Boca tonight.

I would have liked Ramesh to have mentioned quantitative easing, a fancy name for buying 70% of our own US Treasuries by the Fed.

And perhaps the fact that the US is skating by some of the EU's difficulties because the dollar is still the world's reserve currency.

Ben Franklin's face is on more foreign cash than Queen Elizabeth's, at least in denominational value.

And Ponnuru might mention that gold is being bought at an alarming rate.

Gold is the Punxatawny Phil of world markets. It may hibernate now, but a lot of people think the dollar is due for a pounding. [No pun intended.]