Bob Murphy

Author Archive

What They Said About Fan and Fred

This compilation was in the Wall Street Journal on October 2. It sat on my counter for a few days, as I couldn’t work up the effort to actually see just how dumb some of these politicians’ confident statements about the mortgage giants were. I’ve finally read the compilation, and it’s worth it. My favorite […]

Why Does God Let Bad Things Happen?, Part 28

One of the most challenging academic questions for theists is, “Why does God allow bad things to happen?” Unlike other brain teasers involving God, this one really hits home, for obvious reasons. Now I think part of what is going on–and I am a born-again Christian, so that colors my explanation here–is that God wants […]

Why Tyler Cowen Could Be Today’s Hayek, & Why Rothbard Could Be a Real Jerk

One of the biggest sources of regret I have is that I never met Murray Rothbard. So I acknowledge that in the following observations, somebody from Auburn, AL could easily destroy me by saying, “Bob, I knew Murray Rothbard. He was a friend of mine…” Annnywho, here’s what led me to understand why Rothbard could […]

Revision of My Views on Naked Shorting

In August I wrote a piece for Mises.org that lambasted the SEC’s move to ban “naked” short selling of a few financial stocks. I argued that it was a pointless gesture and served only to soften up the public for greater restrictions. Looking back, I think I nailed it on this score. However, in the […]

Is There Going to Be a Bank Holiday?

Back when the Paulson Bank Robbery was still in doubt, I conjectured that there might be an engineered bank panic to get the American people on board. Tim Swanson alerted me to a rumor about Bank of America loading up on signs telling its customers that its branches are closed. He also sent me this […]

A Riddle

Robert Wenzel has a post involving me, and it concludes with the following picture: Try to guess what could possibly make this photo relevant before checking. If you were right, I will give you a mortgage-backed security.

Sarah Palin Is Not Dumb. Evil Perhaps, But Not Dumb

Over at the second best blog in the universe, I have been arguing with Woody about Sarah Palin. He posted a “best of Sarah Palin” compilation (first one below). In response, I posted Obama’s absolutely stomach-turning performance (second one below), and then another compilation including some Biden gaffes and Obama’s piece de resistance where he […]

Mankiw Is Puzzled By Rising TIPS Yields

As I explained in a previous post, analysts who rely on the TIPS yield to get the market’s “risk-free real interest rate” are running into all sorts of trouble. But first, let’s quote from that earlier post to remind everyone what TIPS are: Back in 2003, the Treasury began selling 5-year Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, […]