Bob Murphy (economist)

For other people named Bob Murphy, see Robert Murphy.
Bob Murphy
Murphy at the 2017 Mises Circle
Born (1976-05-23) May 23, 1976
Academic background
Alma materHillsdale College
(B.A., 1998)
New York University
(Ph.D, 2003)
ThesisUnanticipated Intertemporal Change in Theories of Interest (2003)
Doctoral advisorMario Rizzo
Influences
[2]
Academic work
Discipline
School or traditionAustrian school
InstitutionsMises Institute
(2003-present)
Hillsdale College
(2003-2006)
New York University
(2006)
Laffer Associates
(2006-2007)
Pacific Research Institute
(2007-2011)
Institute for Energy Research
(2007-2020)
Independent Institute
(2011–present)
Fraser Institute
(2013-present)
Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University
(2015-2019)
infineo
(2022-present)
[1]
Website

Robert Patrick Murphy (born May 23, 1976) is an American economist. Murphy is research assistant professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University. He has been affiliated with Laffer Associates, the Pacific Research Institute, the Institute for Energy Research (IER), the Independent Institute, the Ludwig von Mises Institute, and the Fraser Institute.

Education

Murphy received a BA in economics at Hillsdale College in 1998 and a Ph.D. in economics at New York University in 2003.[3]

Career

Murphy is research assistant professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University.[4] He has been a visiting assistant professor at Hillsdale College, and a visiting scholar at New York University. He has been affiliated with Laffer Associates, the Pacific Research Institute,[5] the Institute for Energy Research (IER) as the senior economist focusing on climate change,[6] the Independent Institute,[7] the Ludwig von Mises Institute,[8] and the Fraser Institute in Canada.[9]

Murphy has written books such as Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action (Independent Institute, 2015),[10] Primal Prescription with Doug McGuff, MD regarding healthcare in the United States,[11] and Lessons for the Young Economist (Mises Institute 2010).[12] He has written study guides to works of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard.[6] Murphy authored the 2007 book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism. Murphy's book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal, published in 2009, blamed the Depression on government policies.[13]

Murphy has been criticized by economists Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman for predicting that the quantitative easing practiced by the Federal Reserve in the late 2000s would create high inflation by 2013, which did not materialize by that time.[14][15]

In 2013 Murphy challenged Krugman to a debate and unnamed supporters of Murphy promised to donate $100,000 to a charity if Krugman would debate Murphy on economic policy issues.[16] A promotional website was established for the challenge. In response to a radio show caller, Krugman rejected the proposed debate, saying that the subject “is not something to be settled by public circuses".[17][a][18]

Environmental policy

Murphy has stated related to climate change that, "Many economists favor some form of government penalty on CO2 emissions because of the threat of climate change. However, the steps in the argument—going from computer simulations to a specific, numerical tax on economic activity today—are riddled with uncertainties".[19][20]

Murphy has additionally been quoted as saying, "Given the large uncertainties at each major step of the case for reliance on a carbon tax, economists should reconsider their current support for such a policy".[19]

Additionally, Murphy has been quoted as stating, "I reject the peak oil theory insofar as it refers to technological limits on human ingenuity".[19]

Religious views

Murphy is a Christian and has stated in his writings that "my ethical beliefs are informed by my Christian faith, and I am a firm believer in natural law".[21]

Books

  • Chaos Theory (2002) – Two essays on anarcho-capitalism; one discussing the production of defense services, and the other describing the provision of private criminal and civil justice.
  • The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (2007) – A volume in The Politically Incorrect Guide series published by Regnery Publishing. ISBN 978-1596985049 OCLC 79860752
  • The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (2009). ISBN 978-1596980969 OCLC 315239348
  • Lessons for the Young Economist (2010) – available at Mises.org Library. ISBN 978-1933550886 OCLC 681711737
  • Murphy, Robert P. (2018). Contra Krugman: Smashing the Errors of America's Most Famous Keynesian. Paul, Ron (foreword); Woods, Thomas E. (preface). CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 978-1722331795.

Notes

  1. ^ Exchange occurs at the 20:30 mark in the episode.

References

  1. ^ "Resumé/CV". Consulting by RPM. Archived from the original on June 20, 2025. Retrieved July 10, 2025.
  2. ^ "Faculty Spotlight Interview: Robert Murphy". Mises Institute. April 6, 2010. Archived from the original on December 7, 2024. Retrieved July 10, 2025. I started getting interested in free market economics, and began reading the opinion section in the newspaper. My favorite writers were people like Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams... before I discovered them [Mises and Rothbard], probably my biggest hero was the physicist Richard Feynman. Not only was Feynman a genius when it came to physics, but he was actually practical; he could *do* things. My favorite story is how when Feynman was working on the atomic bomb during World War II, he figured out a way to crack the safes of the other scientists and gain access to Top Secret documents. When Feynman brought the security flaws to the military's attention, their solution wasn't to fix the problem, but instead to send out a memo telling everyone to be wary of Feynman. So I think Feynman's irreverent attitude, coupled with an insatiable thirst for knowledge in various disciplines, really influenced me, as far back as junior high.
  3. ^ "Robert P. Murphy, Author at IER". IER. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  4. ^ "Robert P. Murphy". Mises Institute. June 20, 2014. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  5. ^ University, State of Texas and Texas Tech. "Free Market Institute – Our People – Robert Murphy, Ph.D." www.depts.ttu.edu. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  6. ^ a b Robert P. Murphy profile Archived 2013-08-10 at the Wayback Machine, Institute for Energy Research, accessed December 9, 2013,
  7. ^ Robert P. Murphy profile Archived 2013-12-14 at the Wayback Machine, Independent Institute, accessed December 5, 2013.
  8. ^ Robert P. Murphy profile Archived 2014-09-14 at the Wayback Machine at Ludwig von Mises Institute, accessed December 5, 2013.
  9. ^ "Robert P. Murphy". Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  10. ^ "Free Market Institute - Our People - Robert Murphy, Ph.D. | Free Market Institute | TTU". Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 24, 2016.
  11. ^ "The Primal Prescription". May 21, 2015. Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  12. ^ "Lessons for the Young Economist". August 6, 2014. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  13. ^ Raymond J. Keating, "Book review: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal Archived 2014-01-13 at the Wayback Machine", The Freeman, December 22, 2010.
  14. ^ Robert P. Murphy, "Killing the Currency" Archived 2013-06-30 at the Wayback Machine, The American Conservative, December 10, 2009.
  15. ^ "Reason". November 30, 2014. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
  16. ^ Carney, John (October 25, 2010). "Will Paul Krugman be Shamed Into Debating an Austrian Economics Wunderkind?". CNBC website. Archived from the original on June 24, 2013. Retrieved April 19, 2013.
  17. ^ Lehrer, Brian (June 4, 2012). "The Brian Lehrer Show: Paul Krugman Weighs In." Archived 2014-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "Krugmandebate.com". Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
  19. ^ a b c Grandia, Kevin. "Robert P. Murphy". DeSmog. Retrieved March 14, 2025.
  20. ^ HHRG-115-IF03-TTF-MurphyR-20170329.pdf
  21. ^ "Murphy, Robert P. "The Possibility of Private Law." Mises.org. 3 August 2005". July 22, 2005. Archived from the original on January 30, 2009. Retrieved September 13, 2014.
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