From Wikipedia, the free 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."[1]
Thornton has written extensively on that topic, as well as on the
economics of the American Civil War, economic
bubbles, and public finance.
Education and academic
career
Mark Thornton speaking about
business cycles
during the 2008 Mises University conference.
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.[2] He is
currently the Book Review Editor for the Quarterly Journal
of Austrian Economics.[3]
Prohibition
studies
Libertarian organizations including the Independent Institute,[4] the Cato
Institute,[5] and the
Mises Institute have published Thornton's writings on drug
prohibition and prohibition in general. He has also been
interviewed on the topic of prohibition by members of the
mainstream press.[6]
Thornton's first book, The Economics of Prohibition, was
praised by Murray Rothbard, 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 bubbles, including the United States housing
bubble, which he first described in February 2004.[7][8][9] He
suggested that the "housing bubble might be coming to an end" in
August 2005.[10] His
work on market bubbles has been cited by journalists[11][12] and
other writers.[13][14] Joseph Salerno
said, "Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute was one of the first to
jump on this—to start writing about the housing bubble."[15]
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 Alabama 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.[1]
Thornton has also been featured as a guest on the radio show
The Political Cesspool.
[16]
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 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 (editor) Auburn, AL: Ludwig von
Mises Institute, 2007. (ISBN 978-1-933550-07-7)
Notes
- ^ a
b
"Libertarian Celebrities: Mark Thornton." Advocates
for Self-Government. [1]
- ^
"Mark Thornton." Mises Institute. mises.org. [[2]
- ^
"Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics." Mises Institute.
mises.org.[3]
- ^
Thornton, Mark. "Prohibition versus Legalization: Do Economists
Reach a Conclusion on Drug Policy?" Independent Institute. The
Independent Review. Winter 2007. [4]
- ^
Thornton, Mark. "Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure." Policy
Analysis no. 157. Cato Institute. 17 July 1991. [5]
- ^
"US drinks to 75 years since end of Prohibition." Agence
France-Presse. Hosted by Google. 4 December 2008.[6]
- ^
Thornton, Mark. "'Bull' Market." LewRockwell.com. 9
February 2004. [7]
- ^
Thornton, Mark. "Housing: Too Good to be True." Mises.org.
4 June 2004.[8]
- ^
Thornton, Mark. "This Inflated House." The Free Market.
Mises Institute. August 2004. [9]
- ^
Thornton, Mark. "Is the Housing Bubble Popping?"
LewRockwell.com. 8 August 2005. [10]
- ^
Foulkes, Arthur. "Why all the fuss about the housing market?"
Terre Haute Tribune-Star. 26 August 2007.[11]
- ^
Delasantellis, Julian. "Exurbia: Built on paradox and hypocrisy."
Asia Times. 29 May 2007.[12]
- ^
Farrell, Chris. Deflation: What Happens When Prices Fall.
HarperCollins. 2004. p. 12.
- ^
Foldvary, Fred. "The Real Estate Bubble." The Progress
Report. 2004. [13]
- ^
"Joseph Salerno: Bankrupt Banks." The Lew Rockwell Show.
LewRockwell.com. 4 February 2009. [14]
- ^ "GUEST LIST". http://www.thepoliticalcesspool.org/guestlist.php. Retrieved November 29,
2009.
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