Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Why Falsifiability Seemed So Appealing For a While

It was to disqualify statements like this from the bounds of science: [V]ery few main-street economists of any stripe agreed with Art Laffer’s work but Reagan elevated it to a governing mantra and central trope of the political party he led (it is a credit to the strength of the country, if not to the […]

Another Advantage of Mutual Whole Life?

I still have to wrap up some other projects, but soon I plan on going full-steam into my Austrian exposition of Nelson Nash’s “Infinite Banking Concept,” which I’m writing with Carlos Lara. Part of our pitch is going to be that a whole life insurance policy (with a mutual company, not a stock company, and […]

An Inconsistency in Congress’ Actions

The virtue of the Public Choice school of economics–which basically applies standard economic analysis to political behavior, with the slight change that politicians want to maximize not profits but reelection chances, and bureaucrats want to maximize their budget and power–is that it makes sense out of the world. If you as an economist tried to […]

Pete Boettke Fulfills My Prophecy

UPDATE: Be sure to read the Sumner/Murphy exchange in the comments. Folks, I may have to put the Google ads back up. This is easily a $19.95 value, yours free if you act now. –RPM Sometimes I feel like the Barack Obama of econoblogging. I understand all sides in a dispute; I am the aloof […]

WSJ Hearts Mises!

I am stunned. John Cochran (note a different guy from the defender of the EMH!) alerts us to this WSJ op ed championing Ludwig von Mises’ warnings in the 1920s, and saying we face a similar credit bubble today. I don’t know what role left I have to play. Ron Paul has already said the […]

Krugman Gains the Upper Hand…And Then Sumner Flips Him

Whoa this was a good exchange. I read Krugman’s blog post on people abusing MV=PY and totally understood where he was coming from. But then I read Scott Sumner and he destroyed Krugman. The only parts I objected to in Scott’s response were: (1) Scott says that he doesn’t even understand what Krugman is talking […]

When Propagandists Believed in Capitalism

I don’t remember who wrote it, but someone conjectured that the Soviet Union ultimately collapsed when the ruling members stopped believing in communism. I think future historians will say the same of the United States and its version of capitalism. Rob Bradley sends this absolutely charming video from 1948. I kept thinking I was going […]

What An Annoying Ruling

A reader from the comments of another post alerts us to this story: In a significant decision today , a judge found Nicholson’s views on the environment were so deeply held that they were entitled to the same protection as religious convictions, and ruled that an employment tribunal should hear his claim that he was […]