Robert P. Murphy

Articles

12/25/2025 Mises Daily Robert P. Murphy

Consumer spending does not drive the economy. On the contrary, saving, investment, and entrepreneurship are the critical components of economic growth.

Book Review: The Gold Standard: Retrospect and Prospect

08/26/2025 Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics Robert P. Murphy

Bob Murphy reviews The Gold Standard: Retrospect and Prospect. This is a useful collection for those who want an evenhanded analysis of the gold standard that extends to modern topics such as cryptocurrency and currency boards.

The CBO Isn’t Allowed to Forecast an Inflationary Debt Crisis

07/10/2025 Mises Wire Robert P. Murphy

The CBO‘s forecasting restrictions prevent it from predicting an inflationary debt crisis, despite rising US debt and deficits. This limitation hinders proactive policy-making, risking economic instability.

Publications

Understanding Money Mechanics

Robert P. Murphy

The Understanding Money Mechanics series by Robert P. Murphy, is a comprehensive overview of the theory, history, and practice of money and banking, with a focus on the United States. The complete book is available both as an html and a pdf.

Understanding Money Mechanics

12/08/2021 Robert P. Murphy

This book provides the intelligent layperson with a concise yet comprehensive overview of the theory, history, and practice of money and banking, with a focus on the United States. Although the author considers himself an Austrian school economist

The Sizzle of Economic Freedom

08/30/2018 Robert P. Murphy Lawrence J. McQuillan

Freedom lovers have long tried to win converts — and especially voters — by appealing to first principles of classical liberalism embraced by the Founding Fathers: above all, the inalienable right of an individual to chart the course of his own life

Media

Gold Exports, Trade Deficits, and Tariffs

01/24/2026 Robert P. Murphy

Bob responds to James Rickards’ recent tweet on record U.S. gold exports driving an improved trade balance, walking through the official data on non-monetary gold, Trump-era tariff uncertainty, and the broader question of what chronic trade deficits really mean in a post-gold-standard world.

Billionaires, Workers, and the Exploitation Theory

01/18/2026 Robert P. Murphy

Bob revisits Böhm-Bawerk’s critique of the exploitation theory of interest to answer modern claims that billionaires like Elon Musk must have “stolen” their wealth from workers who supposedly create 100 percent of a firm’s value.

Dr. Peter Klein on International Law and “Might Makes Right”

01/15/2026 Robert P. Murphy Peter G. Klein

Bob talks with Dr. Peter Klein about the recent U.S. operation in Venezuela and the social-media backlash against “international law,” using it as a springboard to clarify what law is, how it can exist without a world government, and why Austrians care about polycentric legal orders.

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