Bob Murphy

Author Archive

EconStories Attacks Mainstream Obsession With Consumption, Daniel Kuehn Cries Foul

This is pretty funny, though incredibly geeky: Daniel Kuehn, of course, is shocked that Papola et al. keep kicking this poor strawman. Meanwhile, for my IER job I am looking at this New Yorker piece pushing for a carbon tax. I came across this passage: As we all know, the official Republican term for the […]

I Have a Deal for JP Koning, Scott Sumner, and Nick Rowe

JP Koning jumps into the fray on the Cantillon Effects debate. It occurred to Koning that if we’re going to argue over the issue, maybe we should actually see what Cantillon wrote? Very nice, JP. Let me focus on this aspect of Koning’s attempt to reach a peace treaty: While we don’t have to agree […]

Materialism Is Not Obviously Correct

I used to be a hardcore materialist. I confess, I don’t know that I ever would have abandoned the position if it weren’t for becoming a theist (again). So believe me when I say that I understand why an atheist has difficulty even conceiving of what it would mean, to not be a reductive materialist. […]

Potpourri

==> Tyler Cowen jumps in on the side (?) of Sumner and Rowe (HT2 Max R.), regarding Cantillon effects. (Here Sumner is much clearer–to Austrian readers–about what his position has been all along.) Gene Callahan makes what seems to be a modest point, but it actually is the equivalent of Luke Skywalker’s shot into the […]

You Might Be Talkin to a Market Monetarist If…

…you ask this clarifying question on his blog and you genuinely don’t know what answer to expect: Thanks Nick. One more from me please. (And I’m not asking these to trap you, I’m asking so I fairly recapitulate what your position is.) If the Fed were to suddenly dump its mortgage-backed securities and replace them […]

Resolution of the Sumner/Richman Showdown

[UPDATE below.] You may recall that I was earlier puzzled at Scott Sumner’s commentary on a Sheldon Richman article talking about Cantillon effects. If you care, I now have the resolution, because of Scott’s follow-up post. Scott actually doesn’t dispute anything in what the Austrians have in mind when they say “it matters who gets […]

IMF OK With Capital Controls, Inflationists Shrug

Bloomberg: The International Monetary Fund endorsed nations’ use of capital controls in certain circumstances, making official a shift, which has been in the works for three years, that will guide the fund’s advice. In a reversal of its historic support for unrestricted flows of money across borders, the Washington-based IMF said controls can be useful […]

Jon Stewart on the Fiscal Cliff

This guy is so awesome. He can even sing. The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook