Minor Issues

Mark Thornton

Succinct economic commentary by Dr. Mark Thornton, senior fellow at the Mises Institute.

  1. قبل ساعتين

    Will AI Bonds Doom Humanity?

    Mark Thornton opens with a recap of inflation, commodity prices, interest rates, and stagnant real wages before turning to “bubble bonds”: the explosion of borrowing by AI hyperscalers to finance data centers, chips, and infrastructure with assets whose useful lives may be far shorter than the bonds issued to fund them. Mark connects the AI boom to the Austrian business cycle, comparing it to earlier technology-driven bubbles in public utilities, telecom, dot-coms, and housing finance.  On Side B, Mark discusses global financial stress, war-driven energy disruptions, diesel and food prices, strained consumers, government debt, the Treasury market, and the danger that fiat-money governments will try to print their way out. He also contrasts today’s debt problem with the post–World War II demobilization and closes with thoughts on gold, silver, central-bank buying, and the possibility of a monetary reset. 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure through September 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

  2. ١٢ سبتمبر

    Whistling Past the Graveyard

    Mark Thornton follows up on last week’s episode by arguing that the Trump administration, Chairman Warsh, and Secretary Bessent are using short-term maneuvers to hide long-term economic and geopolitical problems. He focuses on Bessent’s “Operation Economic Outcast,” the failure to isolate Iran, weakening foreign demand for US bonds, the breakdown of the petrodollar order, and the growing risks created by war, sanctions, and fiscal denial.  On Side B, Thornton joins Mario Innecco to discuss the bond market, inflation, war, the AI bubble, and why productivity gains cannot cure monetary inflation. They also turn to the deeper political problem: elite control, rising unrest, and the need for a bottom-up ideological revolution rooted in sound economics and limited government. 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure through September 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

  3. ٥ سبتمبر

    Market Theater, Gold, and the AI Bubble

    Mark Thornton opens by tracing the Soros-linked circle of Scott Bessent, Stanley Druckenmiller, and Kevin Warsh, arguing that Treasury and Fed officials are using currency moves, bond buybacks, and market-signaling games to hold the system together through Election Day. He connects Bessent’s yen and Treasury interventions, Warsh’s Jackson Hole remarks, gold and silver volatility, and the broader effort to mask weak bond markets and a falling dollar.  On Side B, Mark joins TastyLive to discuss the market consequences: precious metals and commodities as relief valves, AI debt as a classic Austrian business cycle malinvestment, why productivity gains cannot cure monetary inflation, and why rate hikes may hurt financial markets and indebted consumers without fixing war-driven price shocks. 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure through September 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

  4. ٢٩ أغسطس

    Printability Matters

    Mark Thornton opens with a warning from Jackson Hole: the Fed’s public mandate is a cover story. Its real job is to serve the big banks and the state by keeping deficits, debt, and financial markets afloat through the power of printability. New programs, wars, bailouts, and political promises all become easier when the Fed can create money with keyboard entries, while consumers pay later through higher prices, unemployment, and crisis.  On Side B, Thornton joins Wall Street Bullion to discuss gold, silver, commodity prices, the long-term consequences of paper money, the burden facing younger Americans, and the dangers of hyperinflation. He explains why boom-bust cycles begin with central bank credit expansion, why dollar-denominated assets become vulnerable in an inflationary environment, and why a bottom-up approach—sound money, savings, local resilience, and real assets—matters now. See also "Tightwads at the Fed" (Minor Issues, Episode 56) https://mises.org/podcasts/minor-issues/tightwads-fed 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Economic Depressions: Their Cause and Cure through September 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

  5. ٢٢ أغسطس

    Austrian Economics, Gold, and the Fed’s Confidence Game

    Mark Thornton opens with an interview from the Rothbard Graduate Seminar on what makes Austrian economics distinct, why the Mises Institute matters, and how Böhm-Bawerk, Mises, and Austrian business cycle theory help students understand prices, capital, interest rates, socialism, skyscrapers, and the K-shaped economy. He emphasizes Austrian economics as a coherent, deductive approach rooted in human action and useful far beyond economics departments. On Side B, Mark joins VRIC Media and CapitalCosm to discuss the Fed, oil, government debt, Social Security, younger voters, and the future of the dollar. He argues that the Fed’s real priorities are financing government debt and protecting banks and Wall Street. The transcript of the interview with Recep Kocyigit, "Skyscrapers, Böhm-Bawerk, and the K-Shaped Economy: A Conversation with Dr. Mark Thornton," is available in PDF: https://mises.org/MI_191_PDF 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar through August 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

  6. ١٥ أغسطس

    Government Intervention and Economic Inequality

    Mark Thornton revisits his Mises University lecture on government intervention and economic inequality, arguing that intervention does not merely shrink the economic pie: it changes who gets the biggest slices. Drawing on Rothbard’s distinction between specific and general factors of production, Mark also shows how regulations, subsidies, tariffs, licensing, healthcare rules, and monetary policy reward protected firms, specialized capital, and politically favored workers while forcing everyone else into less productive, lower-paying alternatives. On Side B, Mark joins the David Lynn Show to discuss tariffs, the Fed, the business cycle, the Skyscraper Curse, AI data centers, war risks, diesel and fertilizer shortages, and why today’s boom may be approaching its breaking point. 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar through August 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

  7. ٨ أغسطس

    Republican Party Displacement

    Mark Thornton returns to Rothbard’s idea of major party realignment, arguing that ideology—not interest-group politics alone—drives long-term political change. He applies that framework to today’s Republican Party, tracing its roots in crony capitalism, protectionism, prohibitionism, and single-issue coalitions, while arguing that the modern uniparty supports inflation, war, runaway spending, debt, and the erosion of the middle class. On Side B, Mark joins Little by Little to discuss war, business cycles, bond-market distrust, private credit, gold, AI, and the growing divide between official statistics and household reality. He warns that political barriers can delay realignment only so long before pressure builds toward revolution, but closes with optimism: young Americans are increasingly rejecting the parties, the media, and state propaganda—and are more open to Austrian economics than ever. Additional Resources"Major Party Realignment" by Mark Thornton (Minor Issues, Episode 186): https://mises.org/podcasts/minor-issues/major-party-realignment "The Transformation of the American Party System" by Murray N. Rothbard: https://mises.org/mises-daily/transformation-american-party-system "Taking Government Out of Politics: Murray Rothbard on Political and Local Reform during the Progressive Era" by Patrick Newman (Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics): https://mises.org/quarterly-journal-austrian-economics/taking-government-out-politics-murray-rothbard-political-and-local-reform-during-progressive-era "Murray Rothbard’s Lessons for the Right" by David Brady Jr. (Modern Age Journal): https://modernagejournal.com/murray-rothbard-conservative-libertarian/254754 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar through August 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

  8. ١ أغسطس

    Gold, Socialism, and the Crisis of the Dollar

    Mark Thornton opens this triple-header episode with a live Radio Rothbard appearance from Mises University, joining Ryan McMaken to discuss inflation, the K-shaped economy, asset prices, debt, the dollar, and why Austrian theory explains what mainstream accounts leave out. Thornton argues that monetary inflation benefits asset owners and government-connected interests first, while working households face higher prices long before wages catch up. On Side B, Mark joins Freedom Works interview on democratic socialism, where he explains why young Americans are drawn to socialism, how government intervention created many of their grievances, and why free markets remain the real path forward. The episode closes with Wall Street Bullion to discuss gold, silver, energy, debt service, the weakening dollar, BRICS, the petrodollar, and the economic fallout from war in the Persian Gulf. 2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Case for a 100 Percent Gold Dollar through August 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree 20% off listener offer on the insulated Minor Issues tumbler and three of Mark's books: https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler. Use coupon code Thornton. Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

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Succinct economic commentary by Dr. Mark Thornton, senior fellow at the Mises Institute.

المعلومات

  • صناع العمل
    Mark Thornton
  • سنوات النشاط
    ٢٠٢٣ - ٢٠٢٦
  • الحلقات
    ١٤٩
  • التقييم
    ملائم
  • موقع البرنامج على الويب
    Minor Issues

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