Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Pentagon Seeks Authority to Post 379,000 Troops in U.S.

Reader cypress brings this alarming story to our attention. I am not familiar with the website so I can’t vouch for the claims, but here’s what it says: The Pentagon has approached Congress to grant the Secretary of Defense the authority to post almost 400,000 military personnel throughout the United States in times of emergency […]

On the Other Hand: A Sample of Brad DeLong

Every once in a while it occurs to me that it’s possible my worldview has a serious flaw in it, and that the people who really drive me through the roof might actually be right. Fortunately, such moments soon pass and I can get back to blogging. But just to make sure you guys realize […]

Yet Another Reason They Will Legalize Marijuana, Soon

Lately I have been giving economic arguments that suggest the government will soon have to legalize marijuana. I’ve come up with an independent argument. The authorities over the next few years will need to legalize marijuana in order to clean out the prisons. They will need to make room for people like you.

Picture Rod Serling Discussing Atlas Shrugged

Walter Block sends along this amazing video. (If you aren’t into it by 2:00, then you should stop it. But many of you will be hooked by that point.) Does anyone recognize this guy? Is this clip part of a show?

The "Efficient Markets Hypothesis" Is a Mental Crutch for Economists

In a recent post, I discussed Robert Lucas’ defense of mainstream macroeconomics. Lucas made excuses for why economists couldn’t have predicted the housing crash, excuses that drove me to declare, “I’m starting to think the efficient markets hypothesis is a state of mind, a consciously chosen way of looking at the world. I’m not sure […]

The Policeman Is Not Your Friend, Leave the Kids in a Freezing Car for 40 Minutes Edition

Robert Wenzel sends me this tale of a Syracuse mom getting tased and arrested. She had been pulled over for talking on her cell phone, which made her indignant because she didn’t have a cell phone in the car. (She had been holding her hand to her cheek while driving.) Apparently, the cop took her […]

Two Murphy Audio Events

* Here is a 15-minute interview with Lew Rockwell. (Remember, the LRC podcasts are regular hyperlinks that take you to a new page. Then you play the interview from the page.) * Here [.mp3] is my Mises Circle talk on the first full day of this year’s Mises University. It’s about 45 minutes long, but […]

Is the BLS Using "Cash for Clunkers" to Suppress Inflation?

The CPI numbers came out today, and there was no smoking gun upon first glance. I still need to go through and make sure there was no hanky panky, but it seems that they did bump up the raw number. The reason the headline is flat is that (the BLS claims) raw prices actually fell […]