Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Average Duration of Unemployment

Here’s another good one: Wait wait, don’t tell me guys: This is actually a sign of progress, because when people got laid off in the late 2000s, they could amuse themselves quite cheaply by playing the free version of Angry Birds. (In case you are baffled by my comment: People in the comments of my […]

Is the Male Labor Force Half Working or Half Unemployed?

(That’s an optimist vs. pessimist joke.) In the comments of this previous post, several of you were encouraging me to set aside issues about an aging population and women entering the work force, by looking at prime-age working males. OK I’m happy to do that: So, we can say that 7 years after bottoming out, […]

Assessing the Labor Market

Check out the chart below. I am forming my own views but I’m curious to get reactions from you folks. I think it is extremely misleading to simply use the unemployment rate as an indicator for the health of the labor market. Note that the civilian-employment ratio is (obviously) not the same thing as the […]

The Superlative Jesus, Part 1

Frequent commenter Keshav left this interesting remark on a previous post: Dan, what do you think about this quote by Robert Ingersoll? “Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect […]

Be Like Aaron

Aaron Malek writes (and gives permission to reproduce): Message: Hi Bob, I enjoyed your talk today in Orlando. It was a great event. I didn’t get a chance to tell you in person, but I am really enjoying your book, Choice. I bought it at the Mises 35th event in NYC and didn’t pick it […]

Video of Daniel Shaver Shooting

I had resisted watching this at first, because I just couldn’t handle it. I will say that this isn’t “gory” but you do see the guy get shot, FYI. I think the thing about this that outrages people is the buildup. Some additional facts (please correct me if any of this is wrong): ==> The […]

Come Hear Us in Orlando

Final plug: On Saturday December 9, I’ll be in Orlando with Jeff Deist talking about the future of liberty. Details here, and students you can get a scholarship at the link near the top of that blurb. (I *think* there are still open slots but I apologize if they tell you it’s full.)

“Total Spending” Is Not the Same Thing as NGDP

Amongst my other problems with the market monetarist approach, is the frequent claim that they just want to maintain “total spending” or the “volume of the spending stream.” No, that’s not correct. Nominal GDP is smaller than total expenditures each year. I was reminded of this when I listened to Mark Skousen explain to Tom […]