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Minor Issues: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Mark Thornton
Succinct economic commentary by Dr. Mark Thornton, senior fellow at the Mises Institute.
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- 1 weeks ago
Stocks, Manure, Gold, and Socialism: Markets and Bad Ideas
Mark Thornton opens with an update on the “Stocks versus Manure” prediction contest, where agricultural stocks are beating the S&P 500 year to date. He then joins Maggie Lake on Wealthion to discuss gold, silver, mining stocks, Kevin Warsh, Fed policy, interest rates, the dollar, and why the long-term thesis for precious metals rests on debt, deficits, monetary inflation, and financial repression.On Side B, Thornton appears on NTD to discuss the rising appeal of democratic socialism among younger Americans. He argues that young voters are reacting to real burdens—debt, unaffordable education, healthcare, housing, and Social Security promises—but are being drawn toward policies that cannot solve them. Mark also explains why socialism fails in theory and practice, from the calculation problem to incentives, and why education is essential to reversing the trend.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Origins of the Federal Reserve through July 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree20% 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 weeks ago
Major Party Realignment
Mark Thornton looks at the growing strength of democratic socialism inside the Democratic Party and asks whether the United States may be entering another era of major party realignment. Drawing on Rothbard’s analysis of long-term ideological change, Mark explains how younger voters, burdened by debt, unaffordable housing, healthcare, and education, are understandably angry—but are turning toward policies that helped create the crisis. Mark also examines how war, inflation, government intervention, and broken political promises are reshaping both major parties.On Side B, Thornton joins the Liberty and Finance podcast to discuss monetary disorder, central bank digital currencies, programmable money, AI-driven surveillance, the war on cash, and the need for education and resistance against the next monetary reset.Additional Resources"Keith Knight’s Top Ten Problems with Democratic Socialism" (Human Action Podcast) with Bob Murphy: https://mises.org/MI_186_A"How Democratic Socialists of America Has Developed Into a Movement Party" by David Duhalde: https://mises.org/MI_186_B"The Myth of Democratic Socialism" by Murray Rothbard: https://mises.org/MI_186_C"How Democratic Socialism Created California's Housing Crisis" by Chris Calton: https://mises.org/MI_186_D"Democratic Socialism IS Totalitarianism" by Bill Anderson: https://mises.org/MI_186_E"How to Fix the Economics of Healthcare" by Bob Murphy: https://mises.org/MI_186_F2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Origins of the Federal Reserve through July 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree20% 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 weeks ago
The Dupes of War: Mises on Statism, Propaganda, and Foreign Conflict
On the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton examines the “dupes of war”—citizens trained by government, schools, and historians to accept false stories about the causes, costs, and supposed benefits of war. Drawing on Ludwig von Mises, Mark argues that war is not caused by isolated incidents or sudden crises, but by statism, nationalism, interventionism, and state worship.He challenges the standard narratives around World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, wartime “prosperity,” and government-funded innovation, warning that war benefits politicians, bankers, the military-industrial complex, and global power elites while destroying lives, capital, trade, and civilization itself.On Side B, Thornton joins Kai Hoffmann to discuss the three Austrian “bust signals”: asset bubbles, price inflation, and the K-shaped economy. He also covers gold, silver, commodities, war-driven supply shocks, Fed propaganda, and why younger people are increasingly hungry for real economics.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Origins of the Federal Reserve through July 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree20% 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 weeks ago
The Vine That Ate the South: Government Solutions vs. Market Solutions
Mark Thornton delays part three of his series on American government in favor of something lighter for the 250th: the story of kudzu, the vine that ate the South. Japanese gardeners brought it to America in 1876 as an ornamental plant. Private interest stayed limited. Then FDR's Soil Conservation Service paid farmers to blanket millions of acres with it—to fix erosion and dust bowl conditions that earlier government policies had helped create. Kudzu grew a foot a day, swallowed trees, houses, and power lines, and became an environmental menace in the Southeast. Government herbicides couldn't kill it. What's actually working is a market solution nobody planned: entrepreneurs who lease goat herds to graze kudzu patches, draining the rootstock over a few years while producing goat meat for the working class.Side B features a Tasty Live interview in which Mark explains all three Austrian business cycle indicators firing simultaneously—the stock bubble, price inflation, and the K-shaped economy—and traces the historical pattern connecting tariffs, strategic stockpiling, and industrial policy to the wars that follow.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of The Origins of the Federal Reserve through July 31. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree20% 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
- Jun 27, 2026
Politics as Power: Elites, Inflation, and the Austrian Answer
Mark Thornton opens this episode of Minor Issues by tracing how politics shifted from the classical ideal of justice and community order into a Machiavellian struggle for power, privilege, and control. He argues that modern politics is dominated by entrenched elites, special interests, propaganda networks, and a two-party system designed to keep ordinary voters alienated and powerless.On Side B, Mark joins Adrian Day and Rich Checkan for a wide-ranging discussion of inflation, debt, financial repression, gold, commodities, artificial intelligence, the Austrian business cycle, and the rise of socialist sentiment among younger Americans. Mark explains why learning Austrian economics is essential for understanding markets, government failure, and the crises ahead.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfree20% 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
- Jun 20, 2026
The Fed’s New Face, Same Old Game
Mark Thornton examines Kevin Warsh’s first Fed meeting and argues that despite the tough rhetoric, nothing fundamental has changed. The Federal Reserve still exists to keep government borrowing cheap, protect banks and Wall Street, and manage appearances while real inflation erodes household purchasing power.Mark explains why real interest rates are already low or negative, how Fed liquidity continues to fuel asset bubbles, and why AI, data centers, government debt, and stock-market leverage all point to late-stage business-cycle danger. On Side B, Thornton joins Murray Sabrin to discuss the economy, the Skyscraper Curse, gold, commodities, and the practical habits that help people navigate a rigged monetary system.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfreeRegister for our upcoming Mises Circle, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?, June 27 in Windham, New Hampshire: https://mises.org/events/why-healthcare-system-broken-mises-circle-new-hampshire20% 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
- Jun 13, 2026
Why Politicians Lie—and How Easy Money Keeps the Boom Alive
On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton opens with a review of John Mearsheimer’s Why Do Politicians Lie?, focusing on strategic deception in international affairs, especially in the Middle East, Israel, Vietnam, Iraq, and America’s own constitutional history. Mark argues that political lies are not merely moral failures; they are tools for empire, war, and state expansion.On Side B, Thornton joins What The Finance to explain how runaway spending, Fed liquidity, and Austrian business cycle theory reveal the deeper mechanics behind today’s markets. He discusses the AI and data-center bubble, the Fed’s role in sustaining malinvestment, the pressure on working families, and why gold, silver, and commodities are benefiting from a long era of monetary inflation and political dysfunction.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfreeRegister for our upcoming Mises Circle, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?, June 27 in Windham, New Hampshire: https://mises.org/events/why-healthcare-system-broken-mises-circle-new-hampshire20% 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
- Jun 6, 2026
Taxpayers vs. Tax-Consumers: Rothbard’s Real Theory of Taxes and Spending
Mark Thornton replays his Rothbard University lecture on government spending and taxation, using Rothbard’s framework of binary intervention to overturn the standard civics-story that taxes are “the cost” of government and spending is “the benefit.” Mark argues both are economically destructive and distortionary, and that treating them as neutral is a category mistake. Drawing on John C. Calhoun’s class analysis, he distinguishes net taxpayers from net tax-consumers, explaining how political finance systematically transfers wealth, reshapes production, and undermines saving, family formation, and long-run growth. The lecture closes with a vivid “wagon” analogy: as more people move from pulling to riding, the whole economy slows and eventually stalls.2026 is the Year of Rothbard—Murray's 100th birthday—and we're celebrating by giving away free copies of Keynes the Man through June 30. Grab yours today at https://mises.org/issuesfreeRegister for our upcoming Mises Circle, Why Is the Healthcare System Broken?, June 27 in Windham, New Hampshire: https://mises.org/events/why-healthcare-system-broken-mises-circle-new-hampshire20% 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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