PODCAST

Minor Issues

Mark Thornton

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

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All Episodes

Mark Thornton on the “Synthetic Boom”

Minor Issues ·

2026/04/18

On this Minor Issues episode, Mark Thornton shares his recent interview with "Pinnacle Digest" host Aaron Hodnett. Mark uses Austrian business cycle theory to explain how “cheap money” distorts investment and leaves a fragile financial system that eventually has to correct. They dig into timing and market signals, what might finally expose the long-running “papered-over” boom, and how the Federal Reserve and policymakers typically respond when the cycle turns.20% off listener offer on the new

War, Gold, and the Fed’s Next Move

Minor Issues ·

2026/03/21

On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton replays two short interviews: one recorded with Daniela Cambone weeks before the outbreak of war in the Middle East, and another with Dunagun Kaiser recorded days ago as the conflict escalates. Mark breaks down why precious metals are unusually volatile, how war and interventionism collide with inflationary fiat regimes, and why rising interest rates and commodity prices point to a more dangerous long-run trend. He also connects the dots between the

In the Company of Mavericks: Mark Thornton on the...

Minor Issues ·

2026/01/24

On the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton shares an in-depth interview with Jeremy McKeown of In the Company of Mavericks on the long rivalry between Austrian and Keynesian economics, and why Austrian ideas may be gaining new traction today. They trace how Austrian economics moved from a small academic outpost to a wider public audience, touching on the Mises Institute’s role, the influence of figures like Roger Garrison and Ron Paul, and the ways online media and “alternative finance”

History of Hyperinflation

Minor Issues ·

2026/01/10

On the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton revisits the history—and present risk—of hyperinflation. Mark explains the threshold that defines hyperinflation, why measuring prices under chaos is hard (yet still revealing), and how the social damage mirrors war: savings vaporize, capital is destroyed, and civic trust collapses. He closes with practical takeaways: why gold and silver often move first as “fire alarms” and why studying past episodes builds the psychological and analytical

Silver’s Growing Pains

Minor Issues ·

2026/01/03

Mark Thornton kicks off 2026 with the new Minor Issues prediction contest (stocks vs. manure) and a hard look at the monetary-metals squeeze. Mark explains why $50 silver triggered “growing pains”: spot–futures disconnects, margin hikes, empty coin shops, and weird retail premiums. As investor demand collides with industrial stockpiling, price spikes invite political scapegoating (“hoarders!”) and intervention that backfires. Expect more meddling before genuine market adjustments can work.Enter the

Looking Back and Forth

Minor Issues ·

2025/12/20

The Minor Issues year-end episode: what 2025 really taught us and what 2026 may bring. Mark Thornton revisits tariffs, inflation, metals, and interest rates; recaps his Bitcoin vs. Gold contest; and explains why a steepening yield curve could arrive even as the Fed cuts short rates. Mark also maps the risks of an un-inversion and why today’s calm in CRE, private credit, and AI capex may mask fragility. Looking ahead, Mark previews the 2026 prediction contest: Stocks vs. Manure.Be sure to follow

The Boom Bust Cycle and the Federal Reserve

Minor Issues ·

2025/12/17

Mark Thornton joins Scott Horton to discuss the state of the economy, the boom-bust cycle, and why anybody—left, right, and center—who cares about the wellbeing of the working class needs to oppose the existence of the Federal Reserve.Visit the Scott Horton Show at http://scotthortonshow.comBe sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

The Seven Deadly Economic Sins

Minor Issues ·

2025/11/22

Mark Thornton traces seven headline “problems” back to one engine: monetary inflation. Drawing on Austrian insights, Mark explains how new money distorts prices and wages; why cheap credit spawns debt booms, asset bubbles, and zombie firms; how deficit finance and central banking turn war into a budget line; and why rising prices erode family formation, savings, and civic trust. He connects the dots to today’s policy mix and sketches a bottom-up remedy: hard budget constraints, sound money, and

Nothing Good Starts at the Top

Minor Issues ·

2025/11/01

Speaking at the recent Mises Institute Supporters Summit, Mark Thornton argues that lasting reform comes from the bottom up, not from political edict. Drawing on Hayek’s “worst get to the top” insight, Mark contrasts elite-driven prohibition with the citizen-led wave of decriminalization and legalization across states and abroad. Mark also explains the role of “salutary neglect” by local officials, the Oregon backlash as a failure of property-rights enforcement—not of liberty—and the scholarly case

Monetary Metals 101: How Gold and Silver Work in a...

Minor Issues ·

2025/10/11

Mark Thornton lays the groundwork for understanding gold and silver before politics gets involved. Mark explains why monetary metals emerge from market “evolution,” how their non-consumptive use creates massive above-ground stocks, and why the same metal serves multiple markets (money vs. consumption) with one price. He explains how demand shifts trigger conservation and recycling, why new mining lags price spikes, how “near-monies” substitute when people economize on cash balances, and why any

Vitamins vs. Technocracy: Lessons from MK-7

Minor Issues ·

2025/10/04

On the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton uses vitamin K2 (MK-7) as a case study in how technocracy goes wrong, elevating cutting-edge findings and bureaucracy over experience, incentives, and real-world diets. Mark explains why K2 is linked in emerging research to bone health, arterial calcification, and even neurodegenerative conditions, and highlights a paradox: many food sources rich in K2 (beef, eggs, butter, chicken liver, European cheeses, salami) are officially discouraged, while

On the Hyperinflation On-Ramp

Minor Issues ·

2025/09/20

Mark Thornton returns as a guest on the Liberty and Finance podcast with Dunagun Kaiser to walk through Ludwig von Mises’s three stages of inflation, and why today’s mix of towering deficits and money printing puts the US on the on-ramp to hyperinflation. Mark also connects sanctions and tariffs to global de-dollarization, explains why central banks are swapping Treasuries for gold, and breaks down his gold-to-silver trade. The conversation ranges from “black swans” to state-level sound-money moves,

Hans Hoppe is No Revolutionary

Minor Issues ·

2025/08/30

Is Hans-Hermann Hoppe a firebrand revolutionary, or something very different? On this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton traces Hoppe’s American debut in 1986 and follows the controversies that later made Hoppe a lightning rod. The case here is straightforward: Hoppe isn’t a political revolutionary aiming to remake society by seizing state power; he’s a natural-rights theorist whose analysis—grounded in property, history, and Austrian economics—argues for social cooperation without a predatory

Stuck in Jackson’s Hole

Minor Issues ·

2025/08/16

As central bankers descend on Jackson Hole for their annual gathering, Mark Thornton explores the history, politics, and pageantry of the world’s most exclusive monetary policy conference. From its origins as a small agricultural meeting to a global elite summit shaped by Paul Volcker’s love of fly fishing, the event now serves as a stage for off-the-record conversations, coordinated strategies, and public displays of “confidence.” With the US economy facing stagflation, debt explosions, and

Capital Consumption

Minor Issues ·

2025/08/09

What happens when a society consumes its seed corn? What is capital consumption, and why does it matter? In this episode, Mark Thornton examines how inflation, deficit spending, and distorted market signals quietly erode the productive assets that fuel economic growth. Drawing on Austrian economics and insights from investor Rick Rule, Mark explains how governments and central banks incentivize the misuse of capital, leading to stagnation, underinvestment, and long-term decline. Understanding this

The Great Precious Metal Premium Conspiracy

Minor Issues ·

2025/08/02

Why do gold and silver coins often cost more than the spot price, and why do those premiums seem to disappear when you try to sell? On this episode, Mark Thornton dives into the misunderstood world of precious metal premiums. Mark explains how market forces—not shady schemes—drive the spread between retail and wholesale prices, and why that spread has shifted dramatically in recent years. From minting costs to shifting demand between retail buyers and institutional giants, Mark unpacks what’s really

Inflation: True or Out of the Blue

Minor Issues ·

2025/07/26

On this episode, Mark Thornton gives a crash course on the sleight-of-hand world of inflation, how it really works, why the official story doesn’t add up, and who benefits from the illusion. Drawing on Austrian insights, Mark dissects the politically engineered cycle of government overspending, Treasury bond issuance, and Federal Reserve money creation. You’ll learn how inflation doesn’t just “happen”: it’s a deliberate policy that distorts markets, transfers wealth, and props up an elite few while

Who Invented Money?

Minor Issues ·

2025/07/12

In the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton unpacks a deceptively simple question and follows its answer deep into the heart of economic history and theory. Drawing on insights from Hayek, Cantillon, Menger, and even WWII prisoner-of-war camps, Mark explores how money actually emerged—not from the decrees of kings or bureaucrats, but from the spontaneous actions of everyday people solving real problems in a barter economy. Mark challenges the fable of state-created money and confronts the

Who Really Invented Bitcoin?

Minor Issues ·

2025/07/05

In this episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton revisits a prophetic 1970s address by Nobel laureate F.A. Hayek that laid the intellectual groundwork for Bitcoin. Delivered during the depths of stagflation, Hayek’s “International Money” lecture critiques central bank monopoly, exposes the failure of Keynesian inflationism, and calls for the denationalization of money. Mark unpacks how Hayek’s radical proposal for competing private currencies was decades ahead of its time, and why it matters more than

Resurrection of the Skyscraper Curse?

Minor Issues ·

2025/05/17

On Economics Explored, host Gene Tunny and guest Dr. Mark Thornton discuss the "Skyscraper Curse," the uncanny correlation between constructing the world's tallest buildings and subsequent global economic crises. Mark explains why these architectural achievements often precede financial downturns. With the resurrection of Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Tower project—destined to become the world's tallest building—set for completion around 2027, could another global economic crisis be imminent?Tune in for an

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