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I do not hear much talk about world population these days, the way I did growing up in the 1960s and ’70s. People were supposedly starving, dying, with tens of millions more sure to die. The problem back then was that there were just too many, well, people.Population numbers coming out of China and India were unthinkable, and projections indicated many more people were going to be born into this dire situation. There were over twenty thousand people in my hometown and as far as everyone was concerned, that was enough already!People were dying! We were told to eat our broccoli and clean our plate because there were starving children in China. Everyone knew that was a stretch of the imagination because we all knew that Chinese people only ate rice.The book The

What happens when war shuts down the Strait of Hormuz? Mark looks at the economics and causes of a growing list of problems with the "chokepoints" of international trade: the Panama Canal, the Suez Canal, and Baltimore harbor. Will these chokepoints become scapegoats for the Federal Reserve, and could war closing the Strait of Hormuz become a genuine world crisis?Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.Get your free copy of Dr. Guido Hülsmann’s How Inflation Destroys Civilization at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito

Website powered by Mises Institute donors

Mises Institute is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent the law allows. Tax ID# 52-1263436

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In this week’s episode, Mark examines Ludwig von Mises’s important contributions to free trade theory. Free trade is more important than people think, and most government intervention is protectionist—or aids the promoters of protectionism.Trade causes civilization to come about. Protectionism is the greatest threat to our way of life, and a danger to human life, itself.Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.Get your free copy of Dr. Guido Hülsmann’s How Inflation Destroys Civilization at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito

Website powered by Mises Institute donors

Mises Institute is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent the law allows. Tax ID# 52-1263436

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In this week’s episode, Mark looks at the type information that investors need, but do not have. These anti-wild cards are going to appear in the economy, but no one really knows what, where, or when. Mark looks back at some historical examples.

See also Surprised Again! The Covid Crisis and the New Market Bubble by Alex Pollock and Howard Adler: Mises.org/MI_59A
Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Dr. Guido Hülsmann’s How Inflation Destroys Civilization at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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In the old days, the Federal Reserve operated in obscurity "behind the curtain". Today, they are front-and-center for the stock market. Total credit card debt in the US is now over $1.1 Trillion. In this episode, Mark looks at the disconnect between the Fed, the stock market (featured in the last episode), and the Real Economy.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Dr. Guido Hülsmann’s How Inflation Destroys Civilization at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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In this week’s episode, Mark takes a quick look back at Fed wisdom in the year 2000, and then surveys today’s stock market—and, in particular, the Magnificent Seven stocks, which represent very narrow leadership of the overall stock market.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Dr. Guido Hülsmann’s How Inflation Destroys Civilization at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome “Jay” Powell, recently sent mysterious shock waves into financial markets with comments that suggested that Fed rate cuts might come sooner than expected.
Stock and bond markets took this as a good sign. They were already in a Santa Claus rally and broke out to new highs for the year. The interest rate on ten-year government bonds, which had already fallen by almost 1 percent since October, threatened to break support and go even lower. Financial journalists were all smiling with exuberance talking about the “Fed’s pivot.”
However, so far, this is just talk of a Fed pivot, not the actual Fed pivot, and its talk about the suggestion of a possible pivot. Most importantly, it’s all just talk that is positively goosing markets

On this week’s episode, Mark opens the Congressional Political Playbook to examine the proposed Congressional compromise spending legislation—and what they might name it.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Murray Rothbard’s Anatomy of the State at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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This week’s episode begins 2024 by looking at the growing political divide among the American people—and how to solve it.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Murray Rothbard’s Anatomy of the State at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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Greenwashing is a relatively new term to describe false and misleading claims that a product or business practice has environmental benefits. The point is that companies can advertise their efforts as “green” while continuing various profitable activities that environmentalists consider “harmful,” gaming the system and profiting off well-intentioned, sustainably minded consumers.
The term was coined forty years ago by a student in response to a hotel that wanted customers to reuse the towels in their rooms to save the environment and save the hotel money.
As an Austrian School economist, I can agree with environmentalists to a point here, but let’s see how far on their side of the bridge they are willing to go. Let’s start with the idea that human beings are

In this episode, Mark looks back at 2023 as a great year for the goals and prospects of the Mises Institute moving forward, but a very bad year for the State.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Murray Rothbard’s Anatomy of the State at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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In this week’s episode Mark explains the term "Greenwashing" and describes how Austrian economists might agree with the sentiment behind it. Are Austrian school economists against the environment? Mark thinks not and explains why.  

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Murray Rothbard’s Anatomy of the State at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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In this week’s episode, Mark looks at "All-Time Highs" in such things as stocks, real estate, and stock indexes. Housing prices hit an all-time high this week, and gold is not far behind. While all-time highs—or even "new highs"—are unambiguously good for owners of these assets, it is much more ambiguous as a signal about the future. Gold might be an exception to this rule, as Mark explains.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Murray Rothbard’s Anatomy of the State at Mises.org/IssuesFree.

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In this week’s episode, Mark looks at the implications of famed investor Jim Chanos shutting down his hedge fund which specialized in shorting stocks. The closure comes as stock markets in the US hit all time record highs. Mark frames these two events in light of the Austrian Theory of the Business Cycle. 

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Get your free copy of Murray Rothbard’s Anatomy of the State at Mises.org/IssuesFree.
Additional Resources
"The Social Function of Stock Speculators" by Robert P. Murphy: Mises.org/Minor46_A
"Short Sellers Keep the Market Honest" (Wall Street Journal) by Jim Thanos: Mises.org/Minor46_B
"Jim Chanos, Short Seller Who Took on Enron and Tesla, to Close Hedge Funds" (Wall Street Journal) by Gregory

On this week’s episode, Mark looks at the financial condition of the government and of American citizens on the cusp of the next recession. The financial condition of the United States Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the American citizenry is weak; debt is high and rising, and this is very worrisome in an economic environment of rising interest rates and a weakening global economy. Please share this episode with a curmudgeon.
The U.S. Debt Clock: USDebtClock.org

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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On this week’s episode, Mark addresses how we the people can prevent the government and the Federal Reserve from grabbing more power and implementing their own preferred "solutions" to economic issues. This is the third round of monetary chaos the Fed has subjected us to in recent history—a history from which valuable lessons can be learned.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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On this week’s episode, Mark recaps Professor Guido Hülsmann’s recent lecture on the cultural impact of the paper dollar. Hülsmann explains how an ever-inflationary monetary system and depreciating currency are leading to moral decay and divisiveness in America.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Additional Resources
"The Cultural Impact of the Dollar" by Guido Hülsmann: Mises.org/Minor_42A
"Abundance, Generosity, and the State: An Inquiry into Economic Principles" by Guido Hülsmann: Mises.org/Minor_42B

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Mark contemplates the political divide in America, the lack of a middle ground, the political divisions in DC, and the turmoil over the Speaker of the House. Looking around the world, similar problems exist in many places; but, there is a tried and true solution, which Mark explains.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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[In recent months, Senior Fellow Mark Thornton has been covering today’s economy in detail in his Minor Issues podcast, so we asked him some questions about where the economy is headed now.]
Mises Institute: You’ve become notable for the idea of the “skyscraper curse,” which is an illustration of how an inflationary economy can lead to more and more gargantuan construction projects. The projects keep getting bigger (and taller) until the bust finally kicks in. That is, in many ways skyscrapers have become a symbol of bubbles and malinvestments. Looking around today, can you point to any particular building projects that might be an indication of where we are in the business cycle right now?
Mark Thornton: The skyscraper curse, or skyscraper index, might appear to

This episode examines the impending Government Shutdown, which will suspend new releases of the government’s "vital" economic statistics. How will the "Data Dependent" Fed manage its policy behind the cloak of missing data? Mark suggests it’s best to consider that the Fed is playing its typical confidence game.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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In this week’s episode, Mark interprets the Fed’s new economic projections for the economy, in which the Fed "doubles-down" on current economic growth and the economy’s prospects moving forward. Essentially, the Fed is saying that they are taking us from the "touch-and-go" economy of the last three years to a touch-and-go landing, where the economy will take off and perform much better than anyone anticipates. Don’t bet on it.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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In this week’s episode, Mark looks at PPI—the Producer Price Index—which provides evidence of the costs for suppliers in various industries, macroeconomic instability, and the potential for economic recovery. Here, very low prices provide the potential for recovery; and rising prices can indicate both recovery in the economy, as well as inflationary pressures moving forward. The Covid Bubble and restrictions caused a 50% increase in producer prices, and since the peak in 2022, PPI has only corrected about 10%. 

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
"Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities" (PPIACO): Mises.org/Minor_PPI
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In this episode, Mark examines Fed Chairman Jay Powell’s recent confession that the Fed is "navigating by the stars on a cloudy night." This reveals the fundamental methodological weakness of the Fed’s economic policy and mainstream economics in general ("data dependency"). In contrast, it also reveals the strengths of Austrian economics, economic theory, and the self regulation of the free market. Mark suggests that we all be prepared for big negative surprises in the economy and additional Federal Reserve and government power grabs.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.
Recommended Reading
"What the Central Bank Cartel has Planned for You" by Thorsten Polleit: Mises.org/Minor34A
"Transparency or Deception: What the Fed Was Saying in

In this week’s episode, Mark reviews what people have said about Fitch’s downgrade of US government debt. Mark sees it as a good thing, but not good enough. The "minor issue" in the latest debt ceiling agreement is ignored by the mainstream media: politicians suspended the debt ceiling into 2025, rather than raising it to some arbitrary, higher figure.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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In this episode, Mark looks at the "minor issue" of the value of the dollar. While everything in the economy seems great—including stock markets, price inflation, unemployment, and consumer confidence—the value of the dollar index has fallen 12% during the rebound in stocks since last October.
Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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While talk of high gas prices is no longer a headline issue, energy economics is still a vitally important aspect of understanding the economy, including the business cycle. Mark explains the basics, tells us where we now stand, and what the major implications are for the near future.

Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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Mark takes a look at all the wrong predictions of recession in recent years, including those of Austrian School economists. While the MSM and Fed officials try to downplay the coming of a recession, many of the statistics and facts that Austrian consider important are indicating a looming recession, if not a full-blown economic crisis.

Check out Anatomy of the Crash: The Financial Crisis of 2020, edited by Tho Bishop: Mises.org/AnatomyOfTheCrash
Be sure to follow Minor Issues at Mises.org/MinorIssues.

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