Does Larry Kudlow Read LRC?
Don’t worry kids, I will get over myself soon enough and stop harping on my virgin CNBC appearance. Believe it or not, I actually just watched it in its entirety for the first time a few minutes ago (late Friday night); I was really busy packing etc. after the taping and couldn’t relish it.
Anyway, check out around 5:12 when Kudlow calls me “Bob Murphy.” Now maybe I’m reading way too much into this, but how does Kudlow know I go by “Bob”? All of my PRI stuff (through whom his producer booked me) has me as “Robert P. Murphy,” and that’s how he referred to me every other time on the show. Yet in the heat of the discussion, he calls me Bob.
I have two theories:
(A) It’s a common enough nickname and he just assumed. (But why not “Rob”?)
(B) Kudlow reads LewRockwell.com and/or Free Advice, the only places where I go by “Bob.” This isn’t inconceivable; you would be surprised at how many big guns have Google Alerts tuned to their names, and will respond almost instantly when you post something about them. (In fact, I have a theory whereby this is to be expected: Other things equal, someone really concerned about his image will tend to be more famous than people who don’t care.) Since I’ve written a lot about Kudlow lately, it’s possible he’s seen my work and finds me amusing. (“Heh heh, I knew those purist libertarians would get their panties in a bunch when I came out for the clunkers program. Keeps me honest; I love it.”)
