Robert P. Murphy

Robert P. Murphy
Born	(1976-05-23) May 23, 1976 United States
Nationality	American
Institution	Free Market Institute of Texas Tech University (2014–present) Fraser Institute (2013–present) Pacific Research Institute (2007–present) Hillsdale College (2003–2006) Ludwig Von Mises Institute (2003-present)
Field	Financial Economics, Trade
School or tradition	Austrian School
Alma mater	New York University (Ph.D.) 2003 Hillsdale College (B.A.) 1998

Robert Patrick Murphy (born 23 May 1976) is an American economist, consultant and author. He is an economist with the Institute for Energy Research (IER) specializing in climate change^[1] and a research fellow with the Independent Institute,^[2] He was a senior fellow in business and economic studies at the Pacific Research Institute,^[3] and he is a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.^[4] In addition to economic subjects, Murphy writes about, and has presented an online video class in, anarcho-capitalism on the Mises Institute website.^[5][6]

Education and affiliations

Murphy received a BA in economics at Hillsdale College in 1998 and a Ph.D. in economics at New York University in 2003.^[1] As explained by the Free Market Institute (FMI) website, "In his role as a research assistant professor with the FMI, Dr. Murphy contributes original research to the Institute's ongoing research program, Research on the Origins of Economic Freedom and Prosperity, and works closely with FMI graduate research assistants on their efforts to develop original research.".^[7] Before to his employment at Texas Tech University, he was a visiting Assistant Professor at Hillsdale College, a visiting scholar at New York University, a Research Analyst at Laffer Associates, and a senior Fellow with the Pacific Research Institute.^[8] He is a Senior Economist with the Institute for Energy Research (IER) specializing in climate change^[1] and a research fellow with the Independent Institute,^[2] He is an associated scholar at the Ludwig von Mises Institute,^[4] and a Senior Fellow with the Fraser Institute in Canada^[9]

He also is the president of Consulting By RPM, where he specializes in economic analysis for a lay audience.^[1][9][10] In addition to economic subjects, Murphy writes about and has presented an online video class on an introduction to anarcho-capitalism, made available through Ludwig von Mises Institute website.^[10][6] Murphy discussed climate change and energy-related topics, on behalf of IER, in testimony before a US Congressional committee.^{[11][12][13][14]}

Publications

Dr. Murphy has written and co-written multiple books. His most recently published book is Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action (Independent Institute, 2015).^[7] He also co-authored Primal Prescription with Doug McGuff, MD regarding healthcare in the United States.^[15] He wrote a textbook for junior high students titled Lessons for the Young Economist (Mises Institute 2010), which is offered free of charge.^[16]

Murphy has also written numerous works for lay audiences, including study guides to works of Ludwig von Mises and Murray Rothbard.^[1] Murphy is author of the 2007 book The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism. Murphy's Mises Institute colleague^[17] Gene Epstein wrote in Barron's Magazine that "Murphy makes a compelling case for the unfettered free market, or what his intellectual antagonists would call "free-market fundamentalism", but writes Murphy is sometimes too irreverent.^[18] Murphy's book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal, published in 2009, blamed the Depression on government policies.^[19]

Additionally, Murphy has written for The Washington Times,^[20] Forbes^[21] and Barron's Magazine.^[22] Murphy's writings have also been published in The American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The Review of Austrian Economics,^[1] the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics^[23] and the Journal of Private Enterprise.^[24] He has written for The Freeman,^[25] The American Conservative^[26] and LewRockwell.com.^[27] He previously wrote a column for both Townhall.com^[28] and Antiwar.com^[29]

Erroneous inflation predictions

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 hyperinflation and economic ruin—predictions that did not come to fruition.^[32] In 2009, Murphy discussed various economic policies of the Bush and Obama administrations, which he called "incredible assaults on the private sector from the central government". He stated that the policies of Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and President Obama would lead to double-digit inflation with high unemployment and could facilitate the abandonment of the US Dollar by the end of the Obama Presidency. Murphy warned that soaring prices for gasoline and imported products sold at Wal-Mart might be blamed by Obama Administration officials on "an attack on the Dollar by foreign speculators" and used by them to replace the Dollar with the Amero or some other currency "issued by a supranational organization". Murphy urged investors to purchase an "emergency stockpile" of physical gold and silver, and predicted double-digit inflation.^[33] In July 2009, Murphy proclaimed that the economy would be "in the toilet for a decade" and predicted "20+ percent price inflation."^[34]

In a series of articles on his personal website, Murphy states that he agreed to a bet that there would be a year/year increase in the seasonally adjusted Consumer Price Index of over 10% by 2013, and notes that he lost the bet.^[34]

In a column criticizing economists "who stick with their ideology no matter how badly it performs in practice", Paul Krugman noted that University of California, Berkeley Professor of Economics J. Bradford DeLong had attacked Murphy for "predicting double-digit inflation for years but remain[ing] absolutely committed to his framework" despite the predictions being unfulfilled.^[35] In December 2012 Krugman again addressed Murphy's failed inflation predictions, criticizing Murphy's belief that "his failed inflation forecast is OK" because it is attributable to "huge deflationary downdraft that offset the inflationary impact of Fed expansion." Krugman wrote that if that was true, "we should be hailing Ben Bernanke for preventing a catastrophic deflation."^[36] Murphy replied on his blog to Krugman and DeLong's criticisms, saying "my price inflation wager has nothing to do with Austrian business cycle theory" and that Krugman was using a "macro model" which does not apply to Austrian theory which relies on "heterogeneous capital goods" and artificially low interest rates distortion of investment flows into various sectors. He admitted he was not sure why his inflation prediction was wrong.^[37] In a May 2013 piece published by The American Conservative, Murphy wrote about Krugman's predictions regarding fiscal austerity and the 2013 U.S. government budget sequestration.^[38]

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.^[39] A promotional website was established for the challenge. Krugman called the proposed debate a "public circus" and stated "Why should I dignify that totally-wrong doctrine — that doctrine that's gotten everything wrong — by giving them a platform?"^[40][41]

Foreign policy and maintaining an empire

In addition to opposing the War in Iraq,^[42] Murphy has been critical of neoconservatives and their interventionist foreign policy views,^[43] especially their views on economics.^[44]

In 2008 Murphy wrote in a column, in response to Michael Kinsley on libertarianism, that "we shouldn't trust the government with military affairs after the Bush administration."^[45] In 2014 Murphy wrote that "if Americans want a free society at home, then they must convince the U.S. government to give up its global empire." He goes on to state that the current aggressive U.S. foreign policy has been destructive to domestic liberties and concludes that "if you allow your government to maintain an empire abroad, then you can’t possibly expect a free and open society at home."^[46] In 2017 Murphy made the case that "a free society will be far more defensible than a state-controlled analog, and by its very nature may avoid military conflict altogether because peaceful solutions are much more efficient."^[47]

Skepticism of evolution, defense of Biblical literalism

In two LewRockwell.com articles entitled "Well, I'll be a Monkey's Nephew" and "More Monkey Business", Murphy expressed skepticism about evolution, asserting that he "can literally prove evolution is false" by pointing out that human beings act altruistically, which (in Murphy's view) cannot be explained by evolutionary motives.^[48][49] In another piece which discussed evolution, Murphy discussed the influence of his Christian faith on his views and defended "those who subscribe to a literal interpretation of the Bible".^[50] Murphy expressed, for instance, his belief in the Biblical story of Jonah and the Whale, asserting that "I think it's possible that a human being could be swallowed by a whale and live for three days somewhere inside of it, with enough oxygen and without being digested".^[50] Critics of Murphy's views on big government attack his religious beliefs in an attempt to discredit the classical liberal economics he espouses.

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."^[51]

Books

• Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action (July 1, 2015 - A concise and updated retelling of the magnum opus of Ludwig Von Mises, Human Action.
• The Primal Prescription (2015) - Co-authored with Dough McGuff, MD. The authors utilize their expertise in separate fields of economics and medicine to offer a shocking and enlightening view into America's health care system.
• Lessons for the Young Economist (Oct 28, 2010) - Lessons for the Young Economist is easily the best introduction to economics for the young reader, covering both pure economic theory and also how markets work.
• Chaos Theory (2002) – A short work composed of two essays on market anarchy; one discussing the production of defense services, and one describing the provision of private criminal and civil justice.
• The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism (April 2007) – A volume in The Politically Incorrect Guide series published by Regnery Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5969-8504-9 OCLC 79860752
• The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (April 2009) ISBN 978-1-5969-8096-9 OCLC 315239348
• Lessons for the Young Economist (2010) ISBN 978-1-9335-5088-6 OCLC 681711737
• How Privatized Banking Really Works – Integrating Austrian Economics with the Infinite Banking Concept (2010) co-written with L. Carlos Lara

Notes

External links

• Robert P. Murphy website
• Robert P. Murphy at Contra Krugman
• Robert P. Murphy at Institute for Energy Research: Profile
• Robert P. Murphy at Mises.org: Literature archives, Daily Article archives, Faculty Spotlight Interview: Robert Murphy
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Robert P. Murphy at Goodreads