Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Is Financial Risk Aversion Rational?

As the markets whipsaw about, displacing portfolios, government and industry officials say some fund managers have made a macabre calculation: to split up their investments among various teams, with each group seeking refuge in different asset classes. If one part of the fund loses money, others will earn profits and keep the portfolio alive. But […]

Thank Goodness the Government Insures Our Checking Accounts

I’m going to write up a longer discussion later, but for right now take a look at this snapshot from page 116 the 2013 FDIC Annual Report: Notice that in 2009 and 2010, the FDIC fund was negative, meaning it had to borrow money from the Treasury just to make whole the depositors of failed […]

A Satisfied Customer

This is an actual message I got from a reader of this blog. I should probably mention that when I asked him for permission to reprint it, he admitted he had been drunk when he wrote it. But still. ========= Message: Bob, I just wanted to acknowledge you for your contributions to my understanding of […]

Potpourri

==> Someone decides to take this “private law” stuff into his own (costumed) hands. A lawyer explains the government’s interest in maintaining its monopoly. Comedy ensues. (HT2 Sam T.) ==> Noam Chomsky on what’s wrong with libertarians. That could be a book! But probably not for the reasons he cites. ==> In light of the […]

Christian Doctrines Hang Together

One of the best insights I drew from a Bible study series I once attended was that you can’t pick and choose from the doctrines of Christianity. If you do, the whole thing collapses. In the present post, I’ll walk through four elements of Christianity, at least as it is practiced in my church. Each […]

Distinguishing “Land” from “Capital Goods”

I answer Gene Callahan’s interesting question. An excerpt: For a fanciful example, if Superman went and got an asteroid full of precious metals and brought it to the surface of the Earth, and then died in a sneak attack from Lex Luthor, the pile of metals would have the same economic status as a gold […]

Potpourri

==> Are there Mulligans in climate policy? I say yes. ==> An interesting interview on investors and Austrian economics. ==> David Stockman agrees that the stock market is poised to fall. By the way, come hear him in Nashville! => I write about gold as an inflation hedge. (And by “inflation” I mean “banana.”) ==> […]

On Mises’ Use of the Term “Inflation”

Since there have been attempts lately to argue that modern-day Misesians are incorrectly stating the master’s position, I thought it helpful to clarify.