All That Glitters Can Be Gold

Let me begin with the gold story.Earlier this week, Customs and Border Protection accidentally announced tariffs on the importation of gold, and the yellow metal immediately jumped above $3,500 per ounce.And all kinds of conspiracy theories started to kick in that the Trump Treasury was going to revalue gold and therefore inflate the Treasury-Fed combined balance sheet to create a lot of easy money, as a quick fix to an economy that is today, truthfully, close to stall speed.The One Big Beautiful Bill won’t kick in for a while, and that’s the key to the Trumpian blue-collar boom, hopefully based in significant part on the building of new factories, as part of President Trump’s superpower strategy, fueled by a flood of new tax incentives and deregulation moves.Yet Treasury sources tell me there will be no tariffs on gold. And none were ever intended.Which reminds me of the great Shakespeare play, “The Merchant of Venice,” where the prince of Morocco is desperately wooing the wealthy and beautiful heiress Portia.And, somehow, he banks his pursuit of her hand with almost unlimited buckets of jewels and — you guessed it — gold.Yet it turns out the prince of Morocco shouldn’t have put all of his bullion in one tray — because Princess Portia was looking for love, not just money.And, suddenly, the prince of Morocco realizes that money can’t always buy love.As he realizes his mistake, he bemoans that:“All that glisters is not gold—Often have you heard that told.Many a man his life hath soldBut my outside to behold.Gilded tombs do worms infold.Had you been as wise as bold,Young in limbs, in judgment old,Your answer had not been enscrolled.Fare you well, your suit is cold.”Which is a wonderful Shakespearean way of describing the sell-off in gold, which dropped down to $3,450 an ounce after the gold tariff rumor was put to rest.It just goes to show you that:“The quality of mercy is not strained;It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath. It is twice blest;It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.”Which brings me to Mr. Trump’s new Federal Reserve Board appointee, Stephen Miran — who is being deployed from the Council of Economic Advisers to the Taj Mahal in order to teach the Deep State central bankers all about the disinflationary benefits of supply-side tax cuts, deregulation, and tariffs.In April, Mr. Miran explained that “what we’re seeing is that the stage is being set for a much lower sustainable inflation rate. Don’t forget that it’s the Trump administration policy to push out the supply side of the economy by tax, tax reform, tax relief, giving companies incentives to invest more to produce more capital stock, giving workers incentives to work more deregulation cutting red tape.”He added that “energy abundance, all this stuff pushes out the supply side of the economy, and we all know that when supply goes up, prices go down.”Of course, Mr. Miran will completely move the center of gravity at the Fed — in Mr. Trump’s direction.And that brings me to Mr. Trump’s Truth Social post today, that tariffs are having a huge positive impact on the stock market, and the Supreme Court would be foolhardy — indeed, would create a judicial tragedy — if it interfered with his tariff policies that are leveling the trade playing field, opening up markets, and incentivizing the kind of new factory building and industrial production that will not only create the blue-collar boom, with higher take-home pay, but new strategic strengths in semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, steel, and AI.So perhaps … some things that glitter are indeed as good as gold.From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.

All That Glitters Can Be Gold

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