Bob Murphy

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* Here is Nouriel Roubini explaining that laissez-faire capitalism has failed. I’m not sure how the Federal Reserve (which caused the boom) or the trillions in bailouts and other rescue moves (which caused/exacerbated the financial panic) qualifies as laissez-faire. But beyond that quibble, I love how Roubini lists all of the things that can go […]

Consumer Price Inflation at 4.9% Annualized Rate

Longtime readers know that I care little for the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ “seasonal adjustments” to their data. If you know where to look in their latest report, you’ll see that the unadjusted index of consumer prices rose 0.4% from Dec 08 to Jan 09, which is an annualized increase of 4.9%. As I said […]

Stocks Down, Gold Breaks $1,000

I’m starting to notice a pattern… Anyway, gold broke $1,000, though as of this post it’s down to $990. And the S&P 500 right now is down about 1% for the day. It’s down 43 percent from a year ago. I think the investors of the world are finally starting to read this blog.

Mario Rizzo on the Misdirection of Resources

Folks, you don’t understand that my dissertation chairman Mario Rizzo is normally a low-key guy. He has been summoned into the policy debate much as Batman heeds Commissioner Gordon’s signal. Anyway, here’s Rizzo’s talk to the Club for Growth meeting. It’s really good. An excerpt: To create value, stimulus will have to steer clear of […]

Ay Caramba! The Spanish Should Cut Taxes for the Right Reasons

Details here. An excerpt: En conclusión, los críticos del plan de “estímulo” de casi un billón de dólares tienen razón en apoyar recortes de impuestos antes que aumentar el gasto público. Sin embargo, muchos de éstos justifican su crítica de tal forma que ellos mismos demuestran la superioridad del gasto gubernamental. Un correcto análisis muestra […]

The Chicago Tea Party?

This was all over the internet yesterday, but just in case you missed it: CNBC’s Rick Santelli goes nuts from a Chicago trading floor. The anchors back at the station keep chuckling and making dumb jokes; I can’t tell if they were really thinking, “Whoa, Rick, tone it down!”

Producer Prices Rise Quickly in January

Now you never want to put too much into a single month’s readings, but if you–like me–have been wondering when the serious price inflation is going to start kicking in, the latest PPI report is sobering. If you take the raw numbers–i.e. not the “seasonally adjusted” ones–the following shows the monthly and annualized percent change […]

Wenzel Makes the Insider Case: Get Gold NOW

I knew that if I overlooked his ill-conceived attacks on Jeff Tucker and me, that Robert Wenzel would eventually justify my daily visit to his site. And he did not disappoint. Really, you need to read this whole blog post. Wenzel points out the government’s deception regarding money market fund withdrawals in September 2008, and […]