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 Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

. He has been affiliated with

Laffer Associates Laffer may refer to: * Laffer, South Australia, locality * Arthur Laffer (born 1940), American economist * George Laffer (1866–1933), South Australian politician * Jae Laffer, Australian rock singer-songwriter * Larry Laffer Larry Laffer is a ...

, the

Pacific Research Institute The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (PRI) is a California-based free-market think tank which promotes "the principles of individual freedom and personal responsibility" through policies that emphasize a free economy, private initi ...

, the

Institute for Energy Research The Institute for Energy Research (IER) is a Washington, D.C.–based non-profit organization that "conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets." IER maintains that the ...

(IER), the

Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux and based in Oakland, California. The institute has more than 140 research fellows and is organized into seven centers addressing a range of pol ...

, the

Ludwig von Mises Institute The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and anarcho ...

, and the

Fraser Institute The Fraser Institute is a Canadian Conservatism in Canada, conservative public policy think tank registered as a Charitable organization, charity. It is headquartered in Vancouver, with additional offices in Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal. It has ...

Education

Murphy received a BA in economics at

Hillsdale College Hillsdale College is a Private university, private, Conservatism in the United States, conservative, Christian liberal arts college in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1844 by members of the Free Will Baptists. Women were admi ...

in 1998 and a Ph.D. in economics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 2003.

Career

Murphy is research assistant professor with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University. 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, the

(IER) as the senior economist focusing on climate change,Robert P. Murphy profile
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in Canada. Murphy has written books such as ''Choice: Cooperation, Enterprise, and Human Action'' (Independent Institute, 2015), ''Primal Prescription'' with Doug McGuff, MD regarding healthcare in the United States, and ''Lessons for the Young Economist'' (Mises Institute 2010). He has written study guides to works of

Ludwig von Mises Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (; ; September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) was an Austrian-American political economist and philosopher of the Austrian school. Mises wrote and lectured extensively on the social contributions of classical l ...

and

Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School,Ronald Hamowy, ed., 2008, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism', Cato Institute, Sage, , p. 62: "a leading economist of the Austri ...

. Murphy authored the 2007 book ''

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism'' is a 2007 book by Austrian school economist Robert P. Murphy. It is the ninth book in the Regnery Publishing '' The Politically Incorrect Guides'' (P.I.G.) series. Written as a result of a poll by ...

''. Murphy's book, ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal'', published in 2009, blamed the Depression on government policies. Murphy has been criticized by economists

Brad DeLong James Bradford "Brad" DeLong (born June 24, 1960) is an American economic historian who has been a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1993. Early life and education DeLong was born in Boston, Massachusett ...

and

Paul Krugman Paul Robin Krugman ( ; born February 28, 1953) is an American New Keynesian economics, New Keynesian economist who is the Distinguished Professor of Economics at the CUNY Graduate Center, Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He ...

for predicting that the

quantitative easing Quantitative easing (QE) is a monetary policy action where a central bank purchases predetermined amounts of government bonds or other financial assets in order to stimulate economic activity. Quantitative easing is a novel form of monetary polic ...

practiced by the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

in the late 2000s would create high inflation by 2013, which did not materialize by that time.Robert P. Murphy
"Killing the Currency"
,

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a bimonthly magazine published by the American Ideas Institute. The magazine was founded in 2002 by Pat Buchanan, Scott McConnell and Taki Theodoracopulos to advance an anti- neoconservative perspect ...

, December 10, 2009. 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. 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".

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". Murphy has additionally been quoted as saying, "Given the large uncertainties at each major step of the case for reliance on a

carbon tax A carbon tax is a tax levied on the carbon emissions from producing goods and services. Carbon taxes are intended to make visible the hidden Social cost of carbon, social costs of carbon emissions. They are designed to reduce greenhouse gas emis ...

, economists should reconsider their current support for such a policy". Additionally, Murphy has been quoted as stating, "I reject the peak oil theory insofar as it refers to technological limits on human ingenuity".

Religious views

Murphy is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

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 Natural law (, ) is a Philosophy, philosophical and legal theory that posits the existence of a set of inherent laws derived from nature and universal moral principles, which are discoverable through reason. In ethics, natural law theory asserts ...

Books

*
Chaos Theory
' (2002) – Two essays on

anarcho-capitalism Anarcho-capitalism (colloquially: ancap or an-cap) is a political philosophy and economic theory that advocates for the abolition of centralized states in favor of stateless societies, where systems of private property are enforced by pri ...

; one discussing the production of defense services, and the other describing the provision of private criminal and civil justice. * ''

'' (2007) – A volume in '' The Politically Incorrect Guide'' series published by

Regnery Publishing Regnery Publishing is a politically conservative book publisher based in Washington, D.C. The company was founded by Henry Regnery in 1947. In December 2023, Regnery was acquired from Salem Media Group by Skyhorse Publishing, with Skyhorse ...

. * ''The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal'' (2009). * ''Lessons for the Young Economist'' (2010) – available a
Mises.org Library
*

Notes

References

External links

Robert P. Murphy website

Robert P. Murphy at Contra Krugman (podcast)
* Robert P. Murphy at

Profile
* Robert P. Murphy at

Mises.org The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and anarcho ...

Literature archives

Daily Article archivesFaculty Spotlight Interview: Robert Murphy
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Robert P. 1976 births Living people 21st-century American economists 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century Christians Academics from New York City American anarcho-capitalists American Christians American columnists American consultants American economics writers American libertarians American male non-fiction writers American political writers Austrian School economists Christian libertarians Social scientists from New York City Hillsdale College alumni Hillsdale College faculty Historians from New York City Libertarian economists Libertarian historians Libertarian theorists Mackinac Center for Public Policy Mises Institute people New York University alumni Writers from New York City