Robert P. Murphy is a Senior Economist with IER specializing in climate change. His research focuses on the estimation of the "social cost of carbon," including the proper discount rate to be used in cost-benefit analyses and the implications of structural uncertainty for policy solutions. Murphy received his Ph.D. in economics from New York University in 2003, where he wrote his dissertation on capital and interest theory. After teaching at Hillsdale College for three years, he moved to the financial sector to work as an analyst for Arthur Laffer (of Laffer Curve fame). In addition to his role at IER, Murphy holds positions at several other free-market organizations, including Senior Fellow with the Fraser Institute, Research Fellow with the Independent Institute, and Associated Scholar with the Mises Institute.