Economics

Archive for Economics

Was Hayek Really a Sumnerian?

I know that some people use the term “Sumnerite” to refer to disciples of Scott Sumner, but I think Sumnerian sounds like something Indiana Jones would study. Now when trying to convince free-market economists of the wisdom of his views, one of Scott’s arguments has been to claim Friedrich Hayek as one of his own. […]

Two Views on Government Loan Guarantees

Somebody once observed that if you laid all the economists end to end, they wouldn’t reach a conclusion. We see this stereotype epitomized when it comes to government loan guarantees. Back on May 12, an economist who was quite a fan of the program wrote this about the DOE’s loan guarantees for renewable energy projects, […]

Prison Break From the Historical Narrative of Webster Tarpley

I don’t even want to post the YouTube here, but if you are curious here is the link to “PrisonPlanet” host Alex Jones’ interview with Webster Tarpley. I am commenting on this because different people emailed me asking me for a reaction, since Tarpley shares their views that an elite group of bankers is taking […]

Mish vs. Murphy

So somebody sent me this article by Mike “Mish” Shedlock, where he takes me out to the woodshed. Here is the relevant portion: Flashback November 23, 2010: Austrian economist Robert Murphy predicts “high inflation” and and writes a post Has Mish Deflated the “Inflationistas”? My response which in retrospect has clearly carried the day was Failure to […]

Potpourri

==> I have a long but very wide-ranging conversation with John Bush on “Rise Up Radio.” I think it starts at the 2:00:00 mark or so. He is going to be one of the Roasters at the upcoming Porcfest extravaganza, and so he and I take some shots at each other at the end, etc. […]

Murphy Twin Spin

Man really busy basically for all of June… To prevent some of you from going into horrible withdrawal, here are two recent articles: ==> Another of my columns at the The American Conservative, this time on government’s role in dividing us. I mention gay marriage and contraception coverage, but those are just a springboard to […]

Two Good Places for Econ Learning Besides Free Advice

Every once in a while I like to give back to the community… ==> I have been picking my way through the new edition of Steve Landsburg’s classic The Armchair Economist. This is truly one of my all-time favorite books. I can remember how much I relished going through it, after I had just finished […]

Federal Government Outlays and Receipts as % of Nominal GDP

Here you go kids: So as I exclaimed in an earlier post, the receipts line shocked me. I have been working a lot with federal spending and knew about the WW2 bulge, but you can see how it crashed right after the war. (This gave rise to all the songs we still sing to this […]