Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Julie Borowski Gives Libertarian Guys Dating Advice

This sounds really stereotypical, but she actually gives good advice. My main reaction to this video was, “Wow, Julie is even nicer than I thought.”

“Divestment Day” Hurts Investors, Does Nothing for Climate

My latest at IER. An excerpt: To be sure, in these discussions the activists would come back and make the issue one of simple morality: Would you pick up the wallet from an unconscious man lying on the sidewalk, even if you knew that the next guy surely would? In a case like this, to […]

The Separation of Coherence and State

[UPDATE below.] On Facebook I follow George Takei (“Lt. Sulu” from the original Star Trek series) because he’s pretty funny, but mostly because I loved that show. Unfortunately Takei applauded the Oregon judge who ruled against the Christian bakers, and put the hashtag #SeparationOfChurchandCake. Upping the ante, one of Takei’s fans posted this in the […]

Potpourri

==> At Mises CA I have a short note on John Bugas, a colorful character who embraced the notion of consumer sovereignty as a way of defending capitalism. ==> Chip Knappenberger and Pat Michaels evaluate the climate models. ==> Plosser wants to raise short-term rates sooner rather than later. My kind of central planner! ==> My […]

The Climate Change “Consensus” Isn’t What the Washington Post Thinks

I am really getting sick of people thinking “humans contribute to climate change, therefore Washington should impose a big carbon tax” is a no-brainer. It’s not. My latest IER post: Now don’t misunderstand, Richard Tol (the developer of the FUND model which shows net benefits for moderate warming) supports a carbon tax. But that’s because […]

What’s Good for Dave Ramsey Is Good for Charles Krauthammer

Gene Callahan has consistently opposed my view that it is a perfectly fine rhetorical move to exaggerate the numbers in an opponent’s position, to see how compelling the stated principle really is. A few years ago Gene complained when libertarians did this in the minimum wage debate, and just recently he said that my rhetorical […]

Private Property in the Vaccine Debate

An obvious point, but not one I had seen people making: The only way to address these fundamental conflicts is to take the State out of the equation. Let private property owners set the relevant rules on their land. Privately run schools, daycare centers, youth clubs, and pediatricians can set their individual policies regarding vaccination […]

Hitchens vs. Craig: Does God Exist?

My son and I are watching this debate between the famous atheist and a renowned apologist: As you can imagine, I now think that Craig has the upper hand, but–as I admitted to my son when he asked about it–if I had watched this same debate when I was in college, I would’ve thought Hitchens […]