Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Scott Sumner’s Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste

Milton Friedman gave us many gifts, but among his undesirable ones was income tax withholding. He also gave an erroneous explanation of the Great Depression, namely that the timid Fed didn’t pump in enough monetary base to prevent disaster. In addition to giving Bernanke the intellectual justification to destroy the dollar, Friedman’s theory has body-snatched […]

Gold Sets Record High; EPJ Explains Plot Against Dollar

Gold hit a record high today, trading at $1,040.15 / ounce. I’m not being a wiseguy; has Mish or another prominent deflationist explained this? If you want to read up on the international conspiracy against the greenback, EPJ has the latest. Is that the out that Mish et al. will take? “Yes, the dollar should […]

Kling’s Critics

I’m sorry kids but I just don’t have the energy to do this justice. So let me give you the quick rundown: * Arnold Kling has been pushing his “recalculation argument” concerning the recession and fiscal stimulus. (Here’s an early, though not the first, post on the topic.) The idea is that we need a […]

Stay on Robert Wenzel’s Good Side

A lot of people email me and ask, “Bob, since you are one of the greatest living economists, why do you tolerate such disrespect [1 and 2] from a lowly financial blogger like Robert Wenzel?” (I am paraphrasing, but that’s basically what they are asking me.) Well the answer is, Wenzel is not picking on […]

"America Needs a New Enemy"

Somebody came just-shy of pining for another 9/11 during the Bush years–I don’t remember who–and now an Obama supporter is doing the same: Where is Osama bin Laden when we need him? Don’t get me wrong; in no way do I wish death and destruction on our country. But as I listen to the increasingly […]

More Fed Charts as Fine Art

I am going to hang this in my office so visitors can ponder. I don’t have the time to get into the data and see which components are responsible for the decidedly different trends. Just be careful when you start talking about what Bernanke is doing with “the” money supply. If you use M2, then […]

Mind Control From DC

A ridiculous FTC announcement reported by Yahoo! Tech: FTC: Bloggers must disclose payments for reviews PHILADELPHIA – The Federal Trade Commission will require bloggers to clearly disclose any freebies or payments they get from companies for reviewing their products. It is the first time since 1980 that the commission has revised its guidelines on endorsements […]

King Solomon Is Wiser Than John Nash

Solomon was a son of King David (of Goliath fame). After outmaneuvering challengers to the throne (which is fairly page-turning, for the Old Testament), Solomon takes his position as the new king. The Bible explains Solomon’s legendary wisdom: 1 Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he […]