Bob Murphy

Author Archive

There’s Nothing More Complicated Than First Principles

I am not kidding, it is ridiculously hard to express basic economic principles to non-economists. I always felt much more comfortable teaching upper level econ courses to majors. Case in point: In my latest EconLib, when writing the initial draft, I actually had pangs of doubt that my discussion was so elementary, people would wonder […]

Does a Worker Help the Rest of Society?

In the past on this blog, I’ve complained when Krugman argued that if you believe workers get paid their marginal product, then you can’t also argue that entrepreneurs help the rest of society. In the current EconLib article, I try to clearly explain at least two major problems with that approach. However, it’s not a […]

Sincere Question on Tax Reform

I have seen several good economists praising the increase in the standard deduction in the tax package. Now to be clear, even though these are free-market guys, they are *not* simply arguing from the position of, “This reduces theft.” (Indeed, at least two of them are scandalized that employers can still deduct health insurance premiums […]

Tolstoy’s A Confession

For Christmas I got this work (which Jordan Peterson talks about), as I am a huge fan of The Kingdom of God Is Within You. This passage from early in the book really rang true to me: I am amazed at how accurately this describes economists today. Here’s a prominent economist arguing that “Money is […]

Krugman, I Am Your Father

Things get downright silly in this episode of Contra Krugman where I singlehandedly (Tom’s on vacation) talk about Krugman’s swipes at Bitcoin. (“What’s with the Vader reference in the title, Bob?” I guess you’ll just have to listen.)

Murphy Links

Some things that have been accumulating; I may have already posted some of them but just in case: ==> My post at IER on coal transportation and the impact on climate policy. ==> Contra Krugman ep. 118: I fly solo, taking on Krugman’s interview with Ezra Klein. ==> My interview on the Libertarian Christian podcast.

Murphy Interview on Conversion and Libertarianism & Christianity

I got into some specifics in this interview that I don’t normally discuss. Probably if you’ve religiously (ha ha) read my religious posts over the years, you have heard all of this, but I don’t usually tell the story in one sitting. We then move on to standard issues on the possible tension between libertarianism […]

Murphy 1, Shoguns 0

Regarding my recent debate on the Tom Woods Show with Todd Lewis–regarding private defense–I got the following email (permission to reprint): Dr. Murphy, Following your recent debate with Todd Lewis I felt motivated to write the following based on my experience of living in Japan and studying its martial history for over 24 years. Best […]