Bob Murphy

Author Archive

More Frank Talk From DeLong on NGDP Targeting

You know, I’ve had my differences with Brad DeLong–and I really can’t stand his habit of editing people’s comments–but he’s actually a straight shooter. Robert Waldmann had asked the entirely reasonable question, “Jan Hatsius (and Brad DeLong) argue that the Fed should declare its intention of buying whatever quantity it takes of long-term Treasuries to […]

Krugman Is the Herman Cain of Bailouts and the Euro

No, I don’t mean Krugman favors a $999 billion bailout (that’s much too small), I mean that he simultaneously tries to take both sides of a hot-button issue. (Poor John Stossel!) In a snarky post entitled, “A Tale of Two Krugmans,” I alluded to the fact that Krugman thought he blew up the case for […]

Clash of the Titans

I was bracing myself for a rebuttal from Bob Wenzel when I had some harsh words for his take on the consumption tax not affecting consumers at all (save in their role as producers), but not a peep. Then I realized it was because he was engaged in a multi-front war. Wenzel was on the […]

Jon Stewart Prescient on Libya

I didn’t see this when it originally ran. Some great lines, especially the Biden ripping in the beginning: The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

The Plot Thickens: I May Agree 100% With Rothbard After All

Thanks to Marris, I think this is the passage from MES that made me think I had a disagreement with Rothbard on an income tax’s impact on saving (pp. 917-919 of the Scholar’s Edition): Some economists maintain that income taxation reduces savings and investment in society in yet a third way. They assert that income […]

Rothbard Bask

Well I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Blogging something that could even be construed as a critique of Bob Wenzel’s take on something having to do with Austrian economics–even though you twice deny that that is what you are doing–is as reckless as peeing on an electric fence. To refresh your memory, yesterday I wrote […]

US Government on Libya: Before and After

Here’s President Obama talking about the US government’s goals for Libya. You can safely move the pointer to the 1:00 mark. Now here’s Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (HT2 LRC): (You just know those Arab terrorists–the irrational bloodthirsty lovers of violence–are going to misinterpret the second one. So paranoid. “The Americans are out to get […]

Murphy Debate With Sumner in January

It’s on. (I was going to link to an Eazy-E video of the song with that title, but remembered that women and children read this blog.) We haven’t picked an official date yet, but Sumner and I will go toe-to-toe in January. The topic? Anthropogenic climate change. He’s for, I’m against. Or maybe we’ll talk […]