Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Financiers vs. Academic Economists

My friend tipped me off to this speech by Charlie Munger that is quite provocative and funny, mostly because he says stuff that only rich old guys can get away with saying. For context, Munger is Vice-Chairman at Berkshire Hathaway, and apparently Warren Buffett refers to Munger as “my partner.” Munger is a self-made man worth […]

Potpourri

==> This essay on “involution” (as opposed to revolution) is interesting, but the best thing is the GIF near the top. ==> On Twitter I said John Urschel provides the perfect natural experiment, to resolve an age-old question: did he have trouble getting a prom date? Nobody liked it. I can’t decide if it’s because […]

Does Silk Road Refute Rothbardianism?

My latest at FEE. Incidentally, as Jeff Tucker’s comment at the end of the article reminded me, I should have issued a disclaimer: I am stipulating that the message logs are accurate, for the sake of argument. I wanted to show that even if Dread Pirate Roberts did everything that the logs purport, then it is […]

I Guess Robert Reich Doesn’t Read Cowen and Tabarrok

…because he’s apparently unaware of the Marginal Revolution. Zing! My latest at Mises CA: If I still haven’t convinced you, consider it this way: Why stop at education? Surely food and clothing are even more important than formal schooling. So how does the pay of migrant farm and textile workers compare to schoolteachers in the […]

Paradise Lost

On a recent road trip my son asked me about the doctrine of Original Sin, since it seemed unfair that Adam and Eve got a chance (which they blew), but all of their descendants were born with a curse. Below I’ll distill some of the points I went over with him, since some of you […]

Potpourri

==> I haven’t read this yet, but a published response to the “Dark Leviathan” piece that John Bush and I discussed on our recent podcast. ==> At FreedomFest this year, I’m going to be the prosecutor in the “Fed on Trial,” while Jeff Madrick is going to be the defense attorney. ==> Another article on […]

Potpourri

==> I thought this Lew Rockwell podcast about “guilt, shame, and anxiety” was interesting. Now I understand my life… ==> My recent Mises CA post on bank moral hazard and liability for shareholders. ==> Here’s the agenda for the Texas Bitcoin conference, on March 28-29 in Austin. If you use discount code “robertmurphy” you get […]

Believing Is Seeing: Noah Smith Reagan Record Edition

Besides my contributions to the rehabilitation of the fine art of karaoke, one of my favorite contributions to humanity is the phrase, “Believing Is Seeing.” (It is self-affirming since many of you probably initially read the post title as, “Seeing Is Believing.”) Today’s example comes from a recent Noah Smith blog post, where Noah wrote: […]