Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Freaking Out Over Global Warming

I elaborate on my views of the Superfreakonomics spat. This is mostly the same stuff, but I take the time to explain exactly what Levitt and Dubner discussed in case you’re new to “geoengineering”: [Levitt and Dubner] argue that if global warming really is a threat, then it does not follow that governments need to […]

Blog Comment of the Week

Over at MarginalRevolution Mr. Cowen goes to the Treasury. In his post-game show Tyler said, “Tim Geithner is very smart and he was conceptually stronger than one might have expected.” In the comments Joseph Lawler said, “I assume that by “conceptually stronger than one might have expected” you mean “didn’t literally hand bags of cash […]

Say No to the Music City Center!

Daniel Lewis, chairman of the Davidson County Libertarian Party (which includes Nashville), is one hot tamale when it comes to the City’s plan to spend (they say) some $635 million on a major new convention center called “Music City Center.” (Nashville’s nickname is “Music City.”) Since I already am surely on a federal list, I […]

"What Are the Odds of That?" Problems

I’m surprised it took this long to make the WSJ op ed page–i.e. I thought the window was gone by this point–but the “Numbers Guy” takes up Ahnold’s recent potty mouth veto message. (See here if you don’t know what I’m talking about; the wussy WSJ doesn’t even reprint the letter.) Anyway the Numbers Guy […]

Po-Po Take Down Former LP Chair

Brandon Robison alerts me to what happened to his personal friend (and former Libertarian Party Nevada state chairman) Jim Duensing. Here is the official media version of the shooting after a routine traffic stop. As you might expect, Duensing has a different take: First, I’d like to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes. […]

The Policeman Is Not Your Friend, Firefighter Edition

As usual, William Grigg alerted me to this outrageous tale: Michael “Mikey” Bartlett Jr. said the reward he got for rescuing several people from an early morning fire Sunday on Crain Avenue in Kent was to get Tasered and arrested by Kent police, allegedly for hindering firefighters’ efforts at the scene. Standing outside the Crain […]

Standing Up to the Bully, Joe Romm

For those who read the “indispensable” (Tom Friedman’s word) Joe Romm’s climate blog, I believe you will find this analysis from the Breakthrough Institute spot-on: Think about it: If you’re an ambitious young Democratic Hill staffer, a liberal policy analyst, or a struggling young reporter, why would you ever stand up to a guy who […]

Potpourri

* Scott Sumner writes a profound post in which he gives the illusion of blowing up macro and then promises to rebuild it from scratch. I will write a lengthy critique of this post in the coming days, but this is some of the best stuff the geeconosphere has to offer. * The intrepid von […]