Lara-Murphy Report
2019 August & September Lara-Murphy Report
CLIMATE HYSTERIA: FACT VS. FICTION BY Robert P. Murphy
Despite their claims of just reporting on the science, the radical environmentalists don’t have the facts on their side. One of the big stories this month was “Climate Week” (September 24-30), and in particular the passionate testimony of sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg before the UN, in which she famously exclaimed, “How dare you!” to the adults who were allegedly ruining her future. Another related item was the tragic death in late August of economist Martin Weitzman, which shone a spotlight on his technical work showing the limitations of conventional models in handling catastrophic risk scenarios.
2019 July Lara-Murphy Report
On the last day of July, the Federal Reserve announced that it would be cutting its target for the federal funds rate, and it also moved up the termination of its balance sheet runoff. The move signals a fairly abrupt departure from the Fed’s official outlook from just a year ago, even though the underlying fundamentals have not significantly changed in the interim. Many observers have attributed the shift in Fed policy to Trump, either through his intimidation of Powell or because his antics with China could lead to a trade war (and hence require a shot in the arm to the economy). Either way, the Fed’s announcement does not bode well for the long-term health of the economy.
read more2019 June Lara-Murphy Report
WHO BENEFITS FROM A GIANT HOSPITAL BILL?: Interview With Keith Smith, MD
Dr. Keith Smith knows the theory of Austrian economics, but he’s also doing something about it. He is lowering medical prices dramatically by seceding from the system.Dr. G. Keith Smith is a board certified anesthesiologist in private practice since 1990. In 1997, he co-founded The Surgery Center of Oklahoma, an outpatient surgery center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, owned by over 90 of the top physicians and surgeons in central Oklahoma. Dr. Smith serves as the medical director, CEO, and managing partner while maintaining an active anesthesia practice.
In 2009, Dr. Smith launched a website displaying all-inclusive pricing for various surgical procedures, a move that has gained him and the facility international attention.
His most recent effort is the launch of the Free Market Medical Association, which provides a platform where those seeking to obtain high quality and affordable health care can find free market-minded providers, both physicians and facilities.
read more2019 May Lara-Murphy Report
COMPARING U.S. BANKS TO THEIR FOREIGN PEERS: By L. Carolos Lara 2019 May Lara-Murphy... read more2019 March Lara-Murphy Report
I like to be precise with my terminology, and so for example I draw a distinction between being smart (knowing a lot of facts) versus intelligent (having a powerful mind). In the same vein, I do not throw around the term genius lightly.
Someone could be very smart and very intelligent, but to be a genius you have to be a creative inventor. You have to produce new ideas and frameworks, which others will then argue over and refine.
The recently deceased R. Nelson Nash was smart and intelligent, but he was also a creative genius. He looked at dividend-paying whole life policies, and in particular their standard feature of policy loans, and realized, “That’s not merely an asset that provides a death benefit. It’s also a cashflow-management device that allows you to free yourself from bondage to commercial bankers.”
Where others saw merely protection, Nelson saw a way to become your own banker.
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