Tax rates were cut, regulations were rolled back, but the part of Ronald Reagan’s original economic agenda that never got off the ground was re-establishing a dollar as good as gold. This was partly because Paul Volcker was so successful a Fed chairman that fundamental monetary reform came to seem less pressing. But enlightened statesmen are not always at the helm, and the case for gold or a gold-like monetary measure and standard deserves consideration once again. Newt Gingrich has said he’s willing to consider the case for gold, and he announced today that he would name TWS friends Lew Lehrman and Jim Grant to chair a proposed commission on gold. Move over, Bowles-Simpson; here comes Lehrman-Grant.

Here’s the campaign statement: