Bob Murphy

Author Archive

“The Case for Christ”

This was a surprisingly good movie. I thought it might be a documentary, but it’s a “real movie.” It’s about journalist Lee Strobel and his mission to disprove the Resurrection.

The Recipe for Economic Growth

Abir Doumit relays some of the facts on how countries grow rich. In the beginning it’s standard stuff for most of you, but they get into some things that are not as commonplace. (I think Dan Mitchell of Cato was the lead writer.)

The Specific Inefficiency Emanating From the Export-Import Bank

In response to one of his critics–who said Don was being naive for ignoring the reality of the “trade war” the US has with China–Don Boudreaux wrote the following: With respect, what you (and many others) call a trade war is quite the opposite of war. It’s peaceful trade. And through such trade we Americans […]

Interesting Pairs of Posts

In my efforts to annoy everyone else in the blogosphere, permit me two comments on recent pairs of posts: ==> When the media broke the story of the Syrian gas attack, Scott Adams doubted it was Assad, and went on to predict: My guess is that President Trump knows this smells fishy, but he has […]

Potpourri

==> Larry Reed reviews the (awesome) movie, “Hacksaw Ridge.” ==> Since United is in the news, check out this 1994 piece from Julian Simon explaining the rise of voluntary compensation for bumped passengers. (And note his initial example of how bad it used to be in the 1970s, concerns a practice from United!) ==> George […]

Two More Podcasts Up

I have to be brief, but here are the links: ==> In ep. 37 of the Lara-Murphy Show, Carlos and I talk about the perils of “tax reform,” including the real estate crash after the 1986 overhaul. ==> In the latest Contra Krugman, Tom and I talk about China. But the important thing here is […]

Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom

Tom Woods is offering a special for the Master level of his Liberty Classroom–$200 off, plus some signed books. But you have to hurry up (for real); the offer expires soon. My Part I of the History of Economic Thought course is already up there, and by early summer I will have posted all of […]

Debt vs. Equity Finance and Interest Deductibility

In reaction to my Congressional testimony–where I said I didn’t think the federal government should tax interest payments, if they are retaining a corporate income tax–Roger Barris objected. He claimed that I was ignoring the lessons of Finance 101, and in particular the famous Modigliani-Miller theorem. I must confess that his initial stance annoyed me; […]