Bob Murphy

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An Odd Comment From Geithner

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has urged Congress to raise the federal debt limit, currently chafing the administration at a measly $12.1 trillion. But as Robert Wenzel noted, Geithner’s reasoning is odd: “It is critically important that Congress act before the limit is reached so that citizens and investors here and around the world can remain […]

Krugman the Scientist Explains the Elderly Rioters

From his latest NYT column: But while the organizers are as crass as they come, I haven’t seen any evidence that the people disrupting those town halls are Florida-style rent-a-mobs. For the most part, the protesters appear to be genuinely angry. The question is, what are they angry about? There was a telling incident at […]

My Radio Interview in the Bahamas

Here it is [.mp3]. I went in to the studio to do the “Jeffrey Show.” This aired live on June 19, 2009, during rush hour traffic in the Bahamas (Nassau). This was definitely something different, but the TV show I did was really a new experience. (I don’t have the DVD yet, but it’s coming.) […]

Glenn Beck Brigades Are Loose!

This is so ridiculous. Paul Krugman has a post called “Rioting Against Health Care Reform.” I only watched the first 2:30 of this, but it hardly looks like a riot. If Krugman actually listened to Glenn Beck, he’d know that Beck’s fans like to quote the Federalist papers. I’m not saying Glenn Beck’s growing popularity […]

The Coming Marijuana Legalization

The more I think about it, the more certain I become that there will be significant liberalization of the marijuana market within the next three years. I expect that at least half of the states will allow small purchases of marijuana, perhaps under an open ended “medicinal use” clause. The power elites in D.C. are […]

California Government Won’t Accept Its Own IOUs

This is pretty funny (HT2LRC): SAN FRANCISCO (CN) – Small businesses that received $682 million in IOUs from the state say California expects them to pay taxes on the worthless scraps of paper, but refuses to accept its own IOUs to pay debts or taxes. The vendors’ federal class action claims the state is trying […]

Mark Thoma Continues to Spread Myths About the Great Depression

Greg Ransom sent me this very interesting NYT piece on BB&T’s John Allison and Ayn Rand. Check out this absurd remark from Mark Thoma: Mark A. Thoma, an economist at the University of Oregon, says the financial crisis would have been worse if the government hadn’t rapidly intervened. “I completely disagree with the idea that […]

We’ll Get Through This Depression, Really

As with most of my writing, my previous blog post on this topic did not receive the attention it deserved. I don’t think I specified clearly enough why we are all fantastically rich, were it not for dumb government policies. Just take organ markets. If the government made trade in body organs as regulated as, […]