Bob Murphy

Author Archive

TIME Announces President’s New Policy to Confiscate Gold

Oh my apologies! It’s a TIME article from 1933, not today. Obama will wait at least 6 months, easy, before he pulls something like this (HT2 Tim Swanson): On March 9 Congress passed the Emergency Banking Act which empowered the President to call all gold into the Treasury, with heavy penalties for those who disobeyed […]

Employment Down, Inflation Fears Up

Well employers cut 598,000 jobs in January, “the deepest cut in payrolls in 34 years” though that is misleading because the population is bigger now. I need to start thinking of where Wenzel is buying me dinner. On the other hand, I am beginning to worry about my price inflation forecast. Now that CNBC is […]

DeLong Rips Hazlitt and Accuses Him (Surprise!) of Misrepresentation

I hadn’t seen this before, but Bryan Caplan today refers to Brad DeLong’s worries about the unwashed masses reading Hazlitt’s Economics In One Lesson. DeLong wrote back in 2005: We all know that the market system is an amazing decentralized social planning and allocation mechanism if externalities are small, if returns to scale are in […]

Should You Sell Your House and Move Into an Apartment?

A Free Advice reader wrote and told me he was planning on downsizing by selling his current house, moving into an apartment, and then buying a smaller house once he found a good bargain. He wanted to know if there were any snags with this plan, given my economic outlook. Here is what I said: […]

Top Economist: "I Think the Government Needs to Get Serious and Nuke the Economy"

OK no one has said that just yet, but it’s surely coming. We’ve got Frederic Mishkin assuring us that the Fed has plenty of “ammunition,” and we’ve got Martin Wolf calling for governments to use “overwhelming force” because the time for “shock and awe” in policymaking is now. Even when somebody comes out against some […]

My Dream Is Coming True!

In Madagascar, of all places! Apparently everyone is ignoring the new president’s orders. No violence necessary, just people saying, “How bout, no?” ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Mayor Andry Rajoelina, who over the weekend claimed he was now running this island nation, had a disappointing first Monday in “power”: the ministries he ordered closed remained open; the […]

"Do You Austrians Have a Better Idea?"

I give President Obama some constructive advice in this one. Really.

The Sparrow Is Away

I know you were all anxious, but you can relax: I’ve submitted my manuscript to the publishers. I’ll let you know when to storm Barnes & Noble. At this point, all I can say is, I am really sick of the 1930s. Oh, I’ll say this too.