Mark Thornton
Encyclopedia
Mark Thornton is an American
economist
of the Austrian School
. Thornton has been described by the Advocates for Self-Government as "one of America's experts on the economics of illegal drugs." Thornton has written extensively on that topic, as well as on the economics of the American Civil War
, economic bubbles, and public finance. He successfully predicted the housing bubble, the top in home builder stocks, the bust in housing and the world economic crisis.
Thornton received his B.S.
from St. Bonaventure University
(1982), and his Ph.D.
from Auburn University
(1989). Thornton taught economics
at Auburn University
for a number of years, additionally serving as founding faculty advisor for the Auburn University Libertarians. He also served on the faculty of Columbus State University
, and is now a senior fellow and resident faculty member at the Ludwig von Mises Institute
. He is currently the Book Review Editor for the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.
, the Cato Institute
, and the Mises Institute have published Thornton's writings on drug prohibition and prohibition in general. Thornton contributed a chapter to Jefferson Fish
's book How to Legalize Drugs. He has also been interviewed on the topic of prohibition by members of the mainstream press. Thornton's first book, The Economics of Prohibition, was praised by Murray Rothbard
, who declared:
s, including the United States housing bubble
, which he first described in February 2004. He suggested that the "housing bubble might be coming to an end" in August 2005. His work on market bubbles has been cited by journalists and other writers. Economist Joseph Salerno
noted that "Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute
was one of the first to jump on this—to start writing about the housing bubble." Similarly, economist Thomas DiLorenzo
has written that "[i]t was Austrian economists
like Mark Thornton . . . who were warning of a housing bubble years before it burst." He also called the top in the housing market. He developed and published his Skyscraper and Business Cycle model in 2005.http://mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae8_1_4.pdf His Skyscraper Index
Model successfully sent a signal of the Late-2000s financial crisis
at the beginning of August 2007. http://blog.mises.org/6948/new-record-skyscraper-and-depression-in-the-making/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-08/world/skyscrapers.rise.markets.fall_1_burj-khalifa-burj-dubai-willis-tower?_s=PM:WORLD
when he was elected Constable
in 1988. In addition to further political candidacies, Thornton also served in various capacities with the Libertarian Party of Alabama
. In 1996 he became an economic advisor to Alabama
Governor, Fob James
.
Thornton has been featured as a guest on a variety of radio and internet programs and his editorials and interviews have appeared in leading newspapers and magazines.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
of the Austrian School
Austrian School
The Austrian School of economics is a heterodox school of economic thought. It advocates methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments , the theory that money is non-neutral, the theory that the capital structure of economies consists of heterogeneous goods that have...
. Thornton has been described by the Advocates for Self-Government as "one of America's experts on the economics of illegal drugs." Thornton has written extensively on that topic, as well as on the economics of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, economic bubbles, and public finance. He successfully predicted the housing bubble, the top in home builder stocks, the bust in housing and the world economic crisis.
Education and academic career
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
from St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University is a private, Franciscan Catholic university, located in Allegany, Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. It has roughly 2,400 undergraduate and graduate students....
(1982), and his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
from Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
(1989). Thornton taught economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
at Auburn University
Auburn University
Auburn University is a public university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 25,000 students and 1,200 faculty members, it is one of the largest universities in the state. Auburn was chartered on February 7, 1856, as the East Alabama Male College, a private liberal arts...
for a number of years, additionally serving as founding faculty advisor for the Auburn University Libertarians. He also served on the faculty of Columbus State University
Columbus State University
Columbus State University is a public institution of higher learning located in Columbus, Georgia. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and is fully accredited by the Commission on...
, and is now a senior fellow and resident faculty member at the Ludwig von Mises Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute
The Ludwig von Mises Institute , based in Auburn, Alabama, is a libertarian academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. Its scholarship is inspired by the work of Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises...
. He is currently the Book Review Editor for the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.
Prohibition studies
Libertarian organizations including the Independent InstituteIndependent Institute
The Independent Institute is a libertarian think tank based in Oakland, California. Founded in 1986 byDavid J. Theroux , the Institute sponsors studies of major political, social, economic, legal, environmental and foreign policy issues. It has more than 140 research fellows. The Institute was...
, the Cato Institute
Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank headquartered in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1977 by Edward H. Crane, who remains president and CEO, and Charles Koch, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the conglomerate Koch Industries, Inc., the largest privately held...
, and the Mises Institute have published Thornton's writings on drug prohibition and prohibition in general. Thornton contributed a chapter to Jefferson Fish
Jefferson Fish
Jefferson M. Fish is a professor emeritus of psychology at St. John's University in New York City, where he previously served as Chair of the Department of Psychology and as Director of the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology....
's book How to Legalize Drugs. He has also been interviewed on the topic of prohibition by members of the mainstream press. Thornton's first book, The Economics of Prohibition, was praised by Murray Rothbard
Murray Rothbard
Murray Newton Rothbard was an American author and economist of the Austrian School who helped define capitalist libertarianism and popularized a form of free-market anarchism he termed "anarcho-capitalism." Rothbard wrote over twenty books and is considered a centrally important figure in the...
, who declared:
- Thornton's book... arrives to fill an enormous gap, and it does so splendidly.... The drug prohibition question is... the hottest political topic today, and for the foreseeable future.... This is an excellent work making an important contribution to scholarship as well as to the public policy debate.
Economic bubbles
Thornton has also written on economic bubbleEconomic bubble
An economic bubble is "trade in high volumes at prices that are considerably at variance with intrinsic values"...
s, including the United States housing bubble
United States housing bubble
The United States housing bubble is an economic bubble affecting many parts of the United States housing market in over half of American states. Housing prices peaked in early 2006, started to decline in 2006 and 2007, and may not yet have hit bottom as of 2011. On December 30, 2008 the...
, which he first described in February 2004. He suggested that the "housing bubble might be coming to an end" in August 2005. His work on market bubbles has been cited by journalists and other writers. Economist Joseph Salerno
Joseph Salerno
Joseph T. Salerno is an Austrian School economist in the United States. A professor at Pace University, Salerno is an active scholar in the areas of banking and monetary theory, comparative economics, and the history of economic thought.-Early life:...
noted that "Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute
Ludwig von Mises Institute
The Ludwig von Mises Institute , based in Auburn, Alabama, is a libertarian academic organization engaged in research and scholarship in the fields of economics, philosophy and political economy. Its scholarship is inspired by the work of Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises...
was one of the first to jump on this—to start writing about the housing bubble." Similarly, economist Thomas DiLorenzo
Thomas DiLorenzo
Thomas James DiLorenzo is an American economics professor at Loyola University Maryland. He is an adherent of the Austrian School of Economics. He is a senior faculty member of the Ludwig von Mises Institute and an associated scholar of the Abbeville Institute...
has written that "[i]t was Austrian economists
Austrian School
The Austrian School of economics is a heterodox school of economic thought. It advocates methodological individualism in interpreting economic developments , the theory that money is non-neutral, the theory that the capital structure of economies consists of heterogeneous goods that have...
like Mark Thornton . . . who were warning of a housing bubble years before it burst." He also called the top in the housing market. He developed and published his Skyscraper and Business Cycle model in 2005.http://mises.org/journals/qjae/pdf/qjae8_1_4.pdf His Skyscraper Index
Skyscraper Index
The Skyscraper Index is a concept put forward in January 1999 by Andrew Lawrence, research director at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, which showed that the world's tallest buildings have risen on the eve of economic downturns...
Model successfully sent a signal of the Late-2000s financial crisis
Late-2000s financial crisis
The late-2000s financial crisis is considered by many economists to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s...
at the beginning of August 2007. http://blog.mises.org/6948/new-record-skyscraper-and-depression-in-the-making/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-01-08/world/skyscrapers.rise.markets.fall_1_burj-khalifa-burj-dubai-willis-tower?_s=PM:WORLD
Political activities
Thornton has also been active in the political arena, making his first bid for office in 1984, when he ran for the U.S. Congress. He became the first Libertarian Party office-holder in AlabamaAlabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
when he was elected Constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
in 1988. In addition to further political candidacies, Thornton also served in various capacities with the Libertarian Party of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
. In 1996 he became an economic advisor to Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
Governor, Fob James
Fob James
Forrest Hood James, Jr., known as Fob James , is an American politician, a civil engineer, and an all-American half-back...
.
Thornton has been featured as a guest on a variety of radio and internet programs and his editorials and interviews have appeared in leading newspapers and magazines.
Books
- The Economics of Prohibition. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1991. (ISBN 0-87480-379-9)
- Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil WarTariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil WarTariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War is an economics book written by Mark Thornton and Robert Ekelund. The book, written from an Austrian School viewpoint, covers the socioeconomic situations of the American Civil War....
(with Robert B. Ekelund, Jr). Delaware: Scholarly Resource Books, 2004. (ISBN 0-8420-2961-3) - The Quotable Mises (editor). Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2005. (ISBN 0-945466-45-5)
- The Bastiat Collection Volume 1 (editor) Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2007. (ISBN 978-1-933550-07-7)
- The Bastiat Collection Volume 2 (editor) Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2007. (ISBN 978-1-933550-07-7)
- An Essay on Economic Theory: An English translation of Richard Cantillon’s Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général" (Translated by Chantal Saucier) (editor) Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2010. (ISBN:�978-1-61016-001-8)