Bob Murphy

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Chapman Should Re-Read Sumner

I saw David R. Henderson link to this piece by Steve Chapman, and Bob Roddis posted it in the comments here as well. I am at “Porcfest” this week and would rather drink alcohol than think about my $500 bet. But some quick reactions: ==> I realize this might sound petty, but doesn’t there seem […]

Was Hayek Really a Sumnerian?

I know that some people use the term “Sumnerite” to refer to disciples of Scott Sumner, but I think Sumnerian sounds like something Indiana Jones would study. Now when trying to convince free-market economists of the wisdom of his views, one of Scott’s arguments has been to claim Friedrich Hayek as one of his own. […]

Two Views on Government Loan Guarantees

Somebody once observed that if you laid all the economists end to end, they wouldn’t reach a conclusion. We see this stereotype epitomized when it comes to government loan guarantees. Back on May 12, an economist who was quite a fan of the program wrote this about the DOE’s loan guarantees for renewable energy projects, […]

Clarifying the Fine-Tuning Argument for a Designed Universe

Two weeks ago we had quite a healthy discussion of the “fine-tuning” argument for a designed universe. In today’s follow-up post, I want to try to clarify some of the issues of framing. Some of you were bringing up standard arguments or analogies whenever these types of debates occur, but I think a lot of […]

Anatomy of the Fed–Summer Pricing!

Oh boy kids, here it is: Another session of my blockbuster Anatomy of the Fed online course starts at Mises Academy on June 25. And special summer pricing: Only $79 for an 8-week course. If you do the math, that works out to…like, a really inexpensive course. Full details are here. There’s also a screen […]

Prison Break From the Historical Narrative of Webster Tarpley

I don’t even want to post the YouTube here, but if you are curious here is the link to “PrisonPlanet” host Alex Jones’ interview with Webster Tarpley. I am commenting on this because different people emailed me asking me for a reaction, since Tarpley shares their views that an elite group of bankers is taking […]

Guest Post: Turning the Atheistic Flavor of Evolutionary Biology on Its Head

[I saw an intriguing post by Gene Callahan at his blog on this topic, and he wrote a longer version here.–RPM] Turning the Atheistic Flavor of Evolutionary Biology on Its Head by Gene Callahan ======================= “Like most summer activities, the frogs’ vocal signaling requires an impressive expenditure of energy, and therefore presumably has an advantage.” […]

Three More Views on Rand Paul

I was getting some pushback from some libertarians in the comments of my Rand Paul post, who apparently think evidentiary rules are for Guantanamo prisoners, not U.S. senators. Anyway, lest I be accused of not airing the more widespread libertarian reaction to the event, here are three videos that I enjoyed very much. [UPDATE: Tom […]