I am, of course, grateful for all you readers. But I’m also glad I don’t take investment advice from Glenn Beck or Ron Paul. Dave Weigel writes that the poor saps who bought up gold are watching their investment go down the drain. “Gold reached an all time high price of $1911 per ounce on August 23, 2011, during the debt limit crisis. By election day 2012, gold had fallen to $1777 per ounce. That amount of gold sells, today, for just $1178.”

We were supposed to buy gold so we would be protected when President Obama tanked the economy. Except the economy didn’t tank, and the stock market is soaring. See also Krugman. Beck still has a banner ad for Goldline on his website, I notice.

Meanwhile, we see once again that being a supply-side economist means you’ll never say you’re sorry. No matter what.

Kansas very stupidly re-elected Gov. Sam Brownback in spite of his record, and on December 1 some schmuck named Rex Sinquefield, writing for Forbes, gushed,

In the two years since Kansas’ tax-reform measures went into effect, the promises of Governor Sam Brownback’s administration are becoming a reality. I challenge tax-and-spend naysayers to dispute the following facts:

• 8,400 seasonally adjusted non-farm jobs have been added since September;
• Workers saw their earnings grow by 3.3 percent in a year; and
• The Sunflower State’s unemployment rate is now 4.4 percent, down from 5.2 percent a year ago.

Note the name Rex Sinquefield. Remember to not take investment advice from him, either.  The Kansas City Star reported on December 19:

The new Kansas jobs numbers were released Friday morning, bringing horrible news to state taxpayers and Gov. Sam Brownback.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total number of nonfarm jobs in Kansas fell by 4,100 in November.

Kansas’ disturbing experience was at odds with how much of the rest of the country did. A total of 37 other states gained in employment in November, while only 13 others, including Kansas, dropped.