Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Mises >> Krugman

Jonathan MF Catalan decided I had too much time on my hands, and so claimed on his blog that Krugman is hands-down a better economist than Rothbard, and is indeed comparable to Ludwig von Mises. At Mises Canada I provide part 1 of my response, dealing with Mises vs. Krugman. Later I’ll do Rothbard vs. […]

A Post Having Absolutely Nothing to Do With Level Targeting of NGDP Growth

I have been somewhat astonished by how much Scott Sumner has transformed the economics blogosphere (and even serious academics and policymakers) in favor of his views, which were almost universally considered absurd back in early 2009. It’s not just progressive Keynesians who have come around to his way of thinking, but even many free market […]

Bob Murphy Explains “Rio 2” to Stefan Molyneux

Please forgive the third-person title but I thought it was too funny to omit. Anyway, here’s Stefan’s review, which right now has 54,000 views. Since I think Stefan is unbelievably, inconceivably wrong-headed in it, I naturally respond.

Tom Woods Interviews Norman Horn on Christian Libertarians

This is a neat interview that I just finished. Near the end, Norman and Tom make (separate) points that I heartily endorse. (Note that in the below I am paraphrasing and might make the points the way I typically do, but they are definitely consistent with what Norman and Tom said.) ==> Around 15:15, Norman […]

George Clooney Doesn’t Know How to Hedge His Portfolio

I realize there are non-pecuniary reasons to engage in wagering, but still: Well if George is singing another tune now [he just got engaged–RPM] he could have to pay out to Michelle Pfeiffer and Nicole Kidman. She previously told Jonathan Ross they had a $100,000 bet over whether George would tie the knot. “He’s just […]

Ralph Raico on Liberalism

With all the talk of liberalism lately (spurred by Kevin Frei and Dan Klein’s project) I thought it relevant to post a standard topic that historian Ralph Raico would give at Mises University. I don’t know if he’ll say it in this version, but I know I’ve heard him say he doesn’t even like to […]

RBC Bask

I am very surprised I can’t find a good example of this, and yet I can’t…. I have read at least two popular Keynesian bloggers (of the fame of Karl Smith and Matt Yglesias, I’m not talking about You-Know-Who) critique the standard Real Business Cycle account of recessions along these lines: “OK, let’s assume for […]

God’s Existence Is Pretty Important When Considering Religion

On Good Friday I made a tongue-in-cheek Facebook post about Christianity, which of course led to some atheist libertarians wondering how I could be so irrational. One guy was being fairly courteous about it, so I responded in kind, pointing him to some of the Sunday posts here, to at least get him to see […]