Bob Murphy

Author Archive

Murphy and Co-Host Twin Spin

==> In the latest Lara-Murphy Show, we argue that we’re in a real estate bubble. ==> In the latest Contra Krugman, we kinda sorta endorse Krugman’s critique of Paul Ryan on fiscal matters.

MRUniversity: The Solow Model and the Steady State

I am linking to this as a supplement in my Liberty Classroom course on the History of Economic Thought. This is simply amazing how well they get across the concept in such a short time. The animations / sound effects are perfect for such an esoteric topic.

Baffled by CNBC

I’m not kidding, I have no idea what is going on in this CNBC story on the recent jobs report. Here are some excerpts: Hurricanes Harvey and Irma damaged not only Texas and Florida but also the U.S. jobs picture, as payrolls fell by 33,000 in September. That drop came even as the unemployment rate […]

Ryan Griggs on Why He Went From Atheism to Christianity

It’s a nuanced take, to be sure, which is similar to my journey. (At one intermediate point I thought Jesus was a regular guy who truly–but erroneously–believed he was the messiah, and so could heal people with similar religious views by the power of suggestion.) For reference, Ryan used to be in our PhD program […]

Does the Rest of Society Care if You Work?

So if you followed my orders, you have already listened to my critique of Paul Krugman, when he claims that the rest of society doesn’t benefit if rich people work more. (Krugman says that free-market economists like to claim that workers get paid their marginal product, so–he concludes–they can’t then turn around and say marginal […]

Contra Krugman: You Have Homework

All right, I must insist that if you are a regular reader of this blog, you should listen to the latest Contra Krugman. It’s on the short side and is pretty focused on economics. (If you don’t normally listen, you’re probably thinking, “Isn’t that what every episode is like?” Eh, yes and no.) Tell me […]

The Year of Jubilee and Human Capital

My study partner and I are going over Leviticus 25 and we are reading Matthew Henry’s (full) commentary. In the year of Jubilee (which happens every 7 cycles of 7 years, so scholars say it is either every 49 or 50 years), all property returns to the family. In other words, no matter how foolishly […]

Tax Reform

I have a new post at IER talking about tax reform. I used this chart to argue that it’s totally fine for GOP to cut taxes, period. (No need for “revenue neutrality.”) If you’re worried about the debt–which you should be–then cut spending too, which is also at historically high levels.