Bob Murphy

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Murphy Inflation Smackdown

[UPDATE below.] Brad DeLong unleashes hell on me at his blog for my (price) inflation bet with David R. Henderson. Especially in light of my Les Mis post yesterday, I had thought about either ignoring this or just linking to it in a Potpourri with no comment. However, at the risk of seeming petty, I […]

The Bishop’s Grace Makes Les Mis Possible

I watched the new Les Mis and loved it. Hugh Jackman was surprisingly good: Near the end I actually thought they might have been dubbing it, because I thought he sounded so much like the Broadway soundtrack. (I didn’t think that in the beginning of the movie; I need to watch it again to see […]

Sometimes You Should Look Up the Numbers, Fiscal “Cliff” Edition

I’m working on an op ed on the “fiscal cliff” and just for kicks, I decided to see just how savage these massive cuts in spending would be. Now let me confess, the results shocked even me, so by all means, somebody show me what I’m overlooking… Here’s a snapshot from a table in the […]

Ralphie Becomes Wiser

One of my favorite scenes:

Clarification on Fed Monetizing Deficit in 2013

I realized something wasn’t adding up with the numbers, and went and double-checked the JP Morgan report that led me (in this video) to say that the Fed may monetize the entire federal budget deficit in 2013. Well, that’s a misleading way to describe it (which is why I’m posting this clarification). What the JP […]

As Usual, Sumner Ignores Micro

In this post Scott Sumner shows he would make a great talent agent: Back in 2009 I argued that only elite monetary economists should sit on the FOMC. Some of its current members are not even monetary economists, elite or otherwise. They are unqualified people serving in the most important economic policy position on the […]

Potpourri

==> Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Seeing how much it has bolstered my career, Greg Mankiw and Gene Callahan both try to catch Keynesian bloggers in self-righteous contradictions. I actually don’t think Mankiw’s point works very well, since Krugman clearly refers to “recovery” in his recent post whereas in 2003 the US wasn’t […]

A Ghost From Landsburg Past

It looks like Steve Landsburg and I will have this disagreement as an annual tradition now. He re-posted his thoughts on Ebenezer Scrooge, which include this line of argument: In this whole world, there is nobody more generous than the miser—the man who could deplete the world’s resources but chooses not to. The only difference […]