Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Jim Manzi’s Share of My Esteem Has Grown, While Econogeeks’ Has Fallen

It’s Jim Manzi vs. the geeconosphere! (For new readers, geeconosphere is my term for the geek economics blogosphere.) As you know if you have seen my over-the-top blog posts (which it occurred to me may freak Manzi out if he doesn’t get my “blog humor”), I am a big fan of Jim Manzi. He is […]

Never Forget?

So for my junior high project I’m explaining how fascism and communism were actually both forms of socialism, in the sense that both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia subordinated individual property rights to the demands of the supreme leader. I just wanted to double check that people referred to Hitler as a fascist (as opposed […]

Taylor Rules Bernanke

I actually don’t know how I feel about the Taylor Rule. One economist (maybe Roger Garrison but I’m not sure) observed once that the so-called Taylor Rule was descriptive, not prescriptive; it simply codified a rule of thumb between price inflation and slack in output, in order to roughly explain the Fed’s actual interest rate […]

Does the Government Own the Whole Economy?

My sources say no: In a recent New York Times op-ed, economist Robert Shiller (coproducer of the famous housing-price index) recommended that the US government begin to sell claims on fractions of Gross Domestic Product. Besides the practical problems with his proposal, it rests on the premise that the US government owns the entire economy. […]

"Those Guys Are Really Smart, Except For That God Stuff"

I don’t remember the exact quote, but in C.S. Lewis’ Surprised By Joy he was explaining his conversion from atheism. He said that the writers/thinkers he respected the most just happened to be Christian, and of course Lewis (when he was still an atheist) thought they were fantastic “except for their Christianity.” Naturally this struck […]

Gary North Tackles the Deflationists

Today LRC ran a Gary North article in which he took on the deflationist camp. Although his official target is a guy named John Exter, the apparent grand-daddy of the viewpoint, North’s critique applies perfectly to someone like Mish who claims that there will be a general deflation yet a constant / rising gold price […]

Epiphany or Brain Fart? Government Debt and Inflation

As I think I have mentioned, I’m working on a textbook for junior high / early high school kids. (It’s a textbook on economics, not yoga, in case you are wondering.) I was being really anal about the precise connection between government deficits and price inflation, explaining that a budget deficit per se doesn’t create […]

Legalizing Poker and Blackjack Today, Marijuana Tomorrow?

CNBC reports: HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania legalized poker, blackjack and other table games at slots casinos Thursday, upping the ante in the increasingly fierce competition among states for gamblers’ money.…It may be more than six months before the first cards are dealt, but millions in license fees are expected to begin pouring into the state […]