Bob Murphy

Author Archive

JFK, Blown Away / What Else Do I Have to Say?

Can people recommend NNJ (non-nutjob) sites discussing the flaws with the single-shooter theory of the JFK assassination? I just saw that Gerald Posner guy on the History channel. I swear the computer graphics they were using didn’t fit the basic facts of the bullet’s trajectory (even though they were using an animation to “show” you […]

Fun With Temperature Graphs!

I don’t know who generated it first, but Paul Krugman and Brad DeLong (see the top middle of his website) love this chart: Yikes! That’s almost as scary as the monetary base. But on second thought, notice the axis: deviations in basis points from an average. I’ll rely on the same GISS data (though I’m […]

Will Cap & Trade Lead to a Transitional Gains Trap?

Pete Boettke links to this post concerning the “transitional gains trap” and cap & trade. The trap arises when a government restricts some activity, often for the specific purpose of increasing prices or otherwise aiding targeted beneficiaries. The limited rights to engage in these activities become valuable as the constraints bind more severely. Owners of […]

Robert Wenzel Schools Me Yet Again on Economics

A while ago Robert Wenzel took me out to the woodshed (in his mind at least) regarding the “natural” rate of interest. (I don’t have the link handy.) Our latest spat–which is good, to counterbalance the usual lovefest between my blog and his–involves savings. It all started when Wenzel criticized the Commerce Department’s calculation of […]

Tom Woods Dismantles Wonkette

For the full effect, first skim this Wonkette hit job on Michelle Bachmann (and Ron Paul and Tom Woods and all my friends) and make sure to skim the comments too. Get a feel for the tone and the intelligence behind the production. Now, can you imagine writing a response that is both enlightening, hard-hitting, […]

Potpourri

* Scott Sumner busts Krugman’s hypocritical condemnation of the WSJ. * Seeing how fun it was for right-wingers to comb through Krugman’s work, Mark Thoma busts Greg Mankiw (HT2BDL). * Speaking of DeLong, he must not be all that bad–he made a MadMax reference in this post. * Continuing to speak of DeLong, what do […]

In the Land of Guns and Pickup Trucks

I won’t be posting much until the weekend. I am outside of San Antonio to give a talk on the Great Depression and other bits of Americana. In the meantime, just remember that the government is not your friend.

The Importance of Sympathy

Brad DeLong is once again beside himself. Sometimes the lies of the free market economists are so incredible that even he is surprised: Does National Review have no editors? Does Thomas Sowell have no friends? Wherefore this personal attack on a disadvantaged minority? Sowell’s mistake was the following line from a National Review article:“A quadrupling […]