Bob Murphy

Author Archive

America’s “War Culture”

My latest article at Liberty Chat is a reaction to Tyler Cowen’s NYT column on the economic benefits of war. An excerpt: My point in this essay isn’t to wag my finger at Tyler Cowen; I know he isn’t “for” war and I know he wasn’t pining for a war to stimulate the economy. Rather, […]

My Father’s Day Tribute

Don’t get me wrong, we were going to the karaoke bar anyway–it was Sunday, duh.

Potpourri

==> My latest Mises CA blog post goes back to the issue of “productivity” versus labor compensation. ==> Cory Massimino also opposes the shooting of cops in pizza places. ==> Rognlie has the longest “Note” you’ve ever seen, dissecting Piketty’s argument in terms of estimates of elasticity from the literature. ==> This Noah Smith post […]

Two Posts on Climate Change Policies

My latest two points at IER concern climate change… ==> In this one, I use Paul Krugman as a springboard to explain why conservatives/libertarians should never agree to a “market-based” carbon tax deal. ==> In today’s post, I walk through the EPA’s own cost/benefit analysis of its proposed power plant regulations. An excerpt: If she […]

The Universe Is Beautiful–Unless You Think Someone Designed It

Unfortunately I can’t find it, but on Facebook recently I saw a poster saying something like, “If the universe were created by an intelligent being, why would he leave 99.9999999% of it empty?” Somewhat apropos, when I took my son to the Smithsonian’s planetarium last week, the show opened and the whole place (filled with […]

Do Not Underestimate the Power of the Dark Side

What a great week! We’ve got activists tiptoeing around cop-killing, and we’ve got tenured professors explaining the economic benefits of war. (Maybe Adam and Tyler should do a new “Odd Couple” show: the hijinx ensue!) I’ve never felt so lonely in my own views. It is truly stunning to see the sloppy arguments by which […]

No, I’m Not Anti-Science

My Facebook post after I took my son to DC: During the Smithsonian planetarium show we learned (a) the cohesion of galaxies means there must be a bunch of “dark matter,” (b) the acceleration of universe’s expansion means there must be a bunch of “dark energy,” and (c) using E=mc^2, the dark energy + dark […]

The State Rests on Consent of the Governed

I am spending three days in DC for some presentations on carbon tax issues. It was interesting to see the disparate reactions to the upset of Eric Cantor, among my acquaintances who live and breathe politics out here. The younger crowd was fired up at the toppling of the much better funded and establishment-backed Cantor. […]