Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Criteria for a Good (Children’s) Bible Story

I read my son the story of Joseph, which (as a Christian but also an economist) is one of my all-time favorites. When we finished it I said to him that it was a really good Bible story, and he asked me what I meant. So I said there were three reasons: (1) The people […]

Tucker Interviews Murphy on Illusion of Wealth

Laissez-Faire Books has released a new volume with excerpts of Mises talking about the business cycle. (Specifically, we went through Human Action and grabbed what the reader would need to fully understand the Austrian business cycle theory.) Here’s the interview about it. My son video-bombs us around 8:15.

National Lampoon’s Meets Stakeout

A few times a year, a bird gets into my chimney. I have by now perfected the technique of letting it in through the fireplace and out a window. Today, however, was the first time a squirrel popped out. Here’s the photo and message I posted on Facebook (find me here) about the incident: Long […]

The Real Tragedy

The sadistic von Pepe sends me this Tyler Cowen post: NGDP in Cyprus It seems to be falling: Luscious strawberries – €3.50 a box on Monday – are now €1.45. The prices of other perishables have also plummeted. “People are buying only what they needed.” No one knows how telephone, water and electricity bills paid […]

When Children Change Your Mind

[Slight UPDATE in the text to clarify David R. Henderson’s position.] Seeing Steve Landsburg doing everything in his power to get fired, I will take a shot at my own thought-provoking post that is sure to upset some readers for its apparent obtuseness: ==> A lot of people, including some libertarians but especially progressives, went […]

Watch the Mises Conference Live

Details here. (I’m not going to be there; I’m too swamped with work unfortunately.)

My Modest Proposal on the EPI Study

In case you folks are curious, the reason I’m focusing so much on DK’s position is that I think he is representative of a large fraction of self-described progressives. So I really want to push people on this, because I think this EPI study and Sen. Warren’s remarks are ludicrous (unless their point was to […]

A Different Explanation of the “Productivity” and Wage Divergence

I have not read a single word from the EPI paper claiming that if the minimum wage had followed “productivity growth” it would now be $22/hour, so everything I am writing in this blog post is predicated on Daniel Kuehn’s interpretation being sound. Having said that, consider the following fable: In 1968, a nation of […]