Bob Murphy

Author Archive

“Islam and the Gospel”

[UPDATE below.] This was a lecture series that my church hosted. The guest speaker was Al Fadi, author of The Qur’an Dilemma, a former Muslim born and raised in Saudi Arabia. I wasn’t able to attend the actual lectures, but Fadi was sort of interviewed by one of our pastors on stage today at church. […]

Potpourri

==> Conservative politicians in Germany want the government to pay stay-at-home moms for taking care of their kids. Liberal groups are mad because it reinforces antiquated views of the family and gender roles. This is an issue that could benefit from a libertarian perspective. ==> Tom Woods calls Max Keiser’s bluff. ==> A Phoenix woman […]

Parsing Yglesias

I was reading Steve Horwitz’s reply to Ezra Klein on the gold standard, which in turn led me to Matt Yglesias commenting on a broader commodity standard. Here’s Yglesias: The notion of tying the value of the dollar to a basket of commodities sounds at first glance like a sophisticated alternative to the crudeness of […]

I Hear a Train a Comin, It’s Comin Down the Tracks

Sorry everyone but I am working through some major deadlines and won’t be able to blog much, at least through mid-September. (However, if you just can’t stand it, find me on Facebook, as Robert P. Murphy who lives in Nashville. That’s where I go when I have a lot of work to be done and […]

How Draconian Is the Ryan Plan?

Today at The American Conservative I examine this question. The money excerpt: Hardly. The first jaw-dropping fact—in light of the commentary above—is that Ryan’s plandoesn’t even call for a balanced budget until the year 2040. Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself on page 84 of the actual proposal [.pdf]. There, the analysis proudly declares: “The […]

Reader Mail: Reconciling Anarcho-Capitalism With Christianity

Bill Peacock (a fellow Christian) sent me some concerns about my Mises Academy online class on anarcho-capitalism. With permission, I reproduce portions of his email below and offer my reactions. Note that I am offering this post partly as a way just of airing “alternative views” that are well-reasoned; I am not trying to answer […]

“Messengers for Liberty” Documentary Trailer

Sorry if I already posted this; I get mixed up with FB and the blog, sometimes. Anyway just in case I haven’t posted it here:

The Market for Security (Mises 2012)

This is one of the talks I gave in Auburn in late July. I run through an economic case for complete privatization of judicial, police, and military services.