Of course, if higher government spending were the answer, the economy would be roaring. But federal spending is running at roughly 11 percent today -- about ten times the inflation rate -- and there are no roars in earshot.

What the liberal media refuses to accept is the supply-side view that changes in tax rates cause changes in economic behavior. The respected National Bureau of Economic Research has documented all this. So has history. Did the liberal media miss the economic boom that followed President Reagan's tax cuts? Or the one that occurred after President Clinton signed a Republican bill in 1997 reducing the capital-gains tax and expanding tax-free savings accounts? They can even go back to the 1960s, when the JFK tax cuts sparked a strong economy.

But the Beltway media won't study the evidence. They'd rather play politics.

Not one reporter in a thousand understands that the current rising price of gold and falling dollar signal the end of deflation. The Fed's recent warning of an "unwelcome substantial fall in inflation" actually came three years too late. Nevertheless, Alan Greenspan & Co. must continue feeding the economy with new cash without raising interest rates for a good long while. An inter-meeting rate cut, following poor results in the latest producer price and industrial production reports, should be made right now.

As for the dollar, Treasury Secretary John Snow is exactly right to note that dollar exchange rates are determined by global market forces. Unfortunately, he inherited a credibility gap from his predecessor Paul O'Neill. For now, an easier greenback will help exporting businesses, but it will also aid domestic companies that have been crushed by deflationary drops in their pricing power and profits.

Someone in the White House should pull all this together and rebut the liberal attack, which is being replayed by the witless political media. Falling interest rates and rising share prices are daily votes in favor of an easier dollar and lower tax rates. The minute President Bush's investment-oriented tax-cut plan goes into action, King Dollar will return to its throne and another long supply-side recovery will begin. A good many reporters will be in hiding at that point, and they'll be watching the economic recovery with amazement.