Bob Murphy

Author Archive

John Nash’s Contribution to Game Theory

I wrote a pretty long post at Mises Canada trying to give the average person a real sense of what Nash did in his dissertation. Ron Howard is not the hero of my post. An excerpt: The central result from the work of vNM was the minimax theorem. The full details are here, but the […]

Problems With the Comments?

At least two of you have written me lately, complaining that your comments are being consumed. (And you’re not even referring to Lord Keynes’ criticism.) Can you tell me specifically what you are experiencing, and also for how long? There was a recent maintenance action that WordPress performed, so if something was screwed up today […]

Everyone Relax: Largest Hedge Fund Says No Bubble

A CNBC story tells us that Bridgewater Associates–a hedge fund overseeing $169 billion in assets–recently sent a note to clients arguing that the U.S. economy was not in a bubble. The story summarizes the note’s main points: Factors arguing against a bubble are, according to the authors: Prices have increased quickly, but not as fast as other […]

Vox Runs a “Climate Denier” Piece

Yes I’m being tongue-in-cheek, but I’m also serious. Look at how David Roberts at Vox describes what these climate scientists are doing. The following are *his* words: Climate scientists, Geden says, feel pressure to provide the good news. They’re worried that if they don’t, if they come off as “alarmist” or hectoring, they will simply […]

Yet More on Utility Theory

Another post at Mises CA: Someone might choose to go to the gym and lift heavy weights, rather than sit on the couch eating pizza. Thus the lifting of the weights gave more utility, even though it was physically painful and very unpleasant per se. Or, a person might choose martyrdom over renouncing her religious […]

“The Battle Between Good and Evil” Is a Staged Conflict

When I was much younger, I had this idea that there was a mighty struggle between good and evil. God was (of course) leading the forces of light, while the Devil (aka Satan) was leading the forces of darkness. You would see this epic clash play out in literature and film, with secular works such […]

Lord Keynes Strikes Again

One of the better-read thorns in my side is a guy (I assume) calling himself “Lord Keynes.” He is definitely smart, and has read a lot of economics, but he’s slick as glass and at best is Chaotic Neutral. I’m posting this exchange on the main page here because it will clear up some confusion […]

Cardinal vs. Ordinal Utility

Uh oh, it’s David R. Henderson and me vs. Tyler Cowen and David Friedman. How do you rank the gladiators? An excerpt: There has been a flareup in free-market economist circles over the issue of “interpersonal utility comparisons.” First Tyler Cowen wrote a post that took it for granted that a rich man got less […]