Bob Murphy

Author Archive

An Old Argument on Austrian Strategy

Over at The Austrian Economists, Greg Ransom and I (plus some others) are arguing with Pete Boettke about the best way for Austrian economists to advance the school. I wisely said last night that I would be making my last post, so now honor forbids me from correcting the latest posts from Boettke (and now […]

MasterResource Post on Oil Speculation

Over at MasterResource I make another guest blog post, this time tackling Robert Bryce’s possibly premature concession on whether speculators were driving oil prices. I don’t really take a stand but just try to clarify the debate: In the broadest sense, any price is caused by “supply and demand.” The prices for Las Vegas real […]

WSJ: Families Save More And Wreck Economy

I’m not making this up. The actual headline is, “Hard-Hit Families Finally Start Saving, Aggravating Nation’s Economic Woes.” (HT2LRC) Here’s some great analysis from the nation’s “economically savvy” newspaper: As layoffs and store closures grip Boise, these two local families hope their newfound frugality will see them through the economic downturn. But this same thriftiness, […]

The Free Advice "Speak Out!" Award Goes to Mario Rizzo

Our first Speak Out! award goes to Mario Rizzo. Both on his new blog and in the comments section at other sites, Mario has continually pounded home the message that microeconomics is still relevant, even when there is a recession. The second link above is to an Arnold Kling EconLog post. Kling says he’s “firmly” […]

Tyler Cowen Opposes Fiscal Stimulus on NPR

He still wants to bail out state and local governments, but nobody’s perfect. All in all, great stuff Tyler. Perhaps my constant nagging on his site is paying off?

Marianne Sierk Standup

Somebody ages ago mentioned to me that Marianne Sierk, a girl from my high school class, was doing stand up in NYC. For some reason I googled her today, and she’s pretty funny. (I didn’t really know her in high school, what with her being a girl and all, and me being interested in physics […]

James Hamilton Gets Us Up to Speed on the Fed Balance Sheet

Jeff Hummel passed this post along. I haven’t read it carefully yet, but it looks promising, with lots of charts and not assuming the reader is an expert. And I was definitely intrigued when I saw this: And how about the Fed’s “free money” from the ballooning excess reserves? If those funds do start to […]

James Grant Is the Man, though Idealistic for the NYT

The NYT reviews James Grant’s book, Mr. Market Miscalculates, which reflects on his warnings about the financial storm (HT2 von Pepe). The reviewer basically credits Grant for making spot-on predictions, then takes away the compliment through various nitpicks. A representative excerpt: Mr. Grant’s targets have been many, but none more so than the Federal Reserve. […]