Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Violence Will Only Make Things Worse, At Bundy Ranch and Elsewhere

I’m really glad to see Lew Rockwell, Gary North, and Robert Wenzel come out quite clearly in opposing the use of violence in the Bundy standoff. I’m singling these three out because they obviously appeal more to the “tough guy” libertarians and so it’s braver for them to come out and say liberty-folk bringing guns […]

Another Element in the “Border Walls Keep You In” Argument

Let’s not forget the thoroughly distasteful Chuck Schumer, senator from New York:

Are Climate Change Mitigation Policies Like a Form of Insurance?

I argue no. Or at least, if they are, they’re really expensive and very few people would buy them voluntarily. I walk through the numbers here, but a quick sampling: Now ask yourself: Suppose someone from an insurance company came to you in the year 2050 and said, “We’ve run computer models many thousands of […]

Austrian Business Cycle Theory Surprisingly Useful Even Among Its Critics

The theory of business cycles advanced by Ludwig von Mises (and refined by Friedrich Hayek, who won the Nobel partially for this work) explains the typical recession as the inevitable result from a preceding, and unsustainable, boom period. The cause of the boom is artificially low interest rates, which in turn are caused by the […]

Some More Touchy-Feely Thoughts on Immigration

In the comments of my previous post, Matt M. wrote: Bob, Even if you’re a libertarian who is in favor of open borders, is there not some legitimacy towards pointing out the fact that someone like Harry Reid is arguing that the Bundy Ranch situation must be dealt with harshly because “everyone has to follow […]

Paul Krugman’s Compensation Package: Liiiiiitle Bit Awkward

As you can imagine, many of my colleagues in the geeconosphere and on social media thought this Gawker piece on Krugman was absolutely hilarious: In late February, the City University of New York announced that it had tapped Princeton economist and New York Times blogger Paul Krugman for a distinguished professorship at CUNY’s Graduate Center […]

Potpourri

==> Dan Sanchez has a great review of the new Captain America movie. However, MAJOR SPOILERS. If you are borderline, I would strongly nudge you to go watch it; it was a lot better than I had hoped. Then after you watch it, read Dan’s review. ==> I was on the Power Trading Radio show […]