Bob Murphy

Author Archive

NPR (SF) Debate: Murphy vs. Dean Baker

On Sunday I debated Dean Baker on the San Fran NPR show hosted by Marty Nemko. Here is the archive (mp3). This was a pretty neat debate I think. I didn’t “crush” Baker and (I hope) he didn’t beat me. We were both polite and often agreed with each other.

Happy Easter!

When I was younger I didn’t understand why Easter was considered a more important holiday (to Christians) than Christmas. It’s funny but I can’t even remember now what my confusion was; it certainly seems a much bigger deal for someone to come back from the dead than to be born. I have wrestled with one […]

Tom Woods, the Only Threat to My Professional Success

If it weren’t for Tom Woods, I would have a wide open field. But dangit, his affiliation with the Mises Institute has taught him sound economics, and on top of that he is a geek who reads a bunch of history. Fortunately, he has a terrible sense of humor. In any event, check out this […]

Koppl-Murphy Throwdown

In light of the recent WSJ symposium in which the Austrian theory was vindicated (though not by name), we Austrians have decided that we are gaining too much ground and it’s thus time to start another internal war. To that end, I offer this thread over at The Austrian Economists.

Those Who Are Ignorant of Cartoons…

Jim Myers passes along the following which is apparently an actual 1934 political cartoon:

Why Don’t Cargo Ships Arm Themselves Against Pirates?

Ed Stringham sends me this AP article discussing the downside to arming against pirates. Although I was rooting for the American crew–especially when I learned the chief security guy was named Murphy–I think it’s probably wisest to not escalate. E.g. even if he ends up OK, the captain was obviously in danger because of the […]

Henderson Yes, Caplan No

EconLog is really a great blog. The three of those guys together have as much output as one Tyler Cowen (and that’s a compliment to the three). In this post I’ll praise David Henderson for this great point about anarchy and foreign affairs, and then I’ll proceed to criticize Bryan Caplan. Caplan is getting ready […]

A Moment’s Reflection

I give a halftime talk to the legions of liberty fighters. (And that means they are fighting for liberty, notwithstanding Carlin’s take* on this.) The intro: For those of us who consider it our duty or even our career to defend traditional liberties from ever-growing government, I would like us to reflect a moment on […]