Minor Issues

SVB Bank and Signature Bank failed this week and were bailed out. Mark explains why the banks failed and why it was bound to happen. The minor issue is that the total FDIC bailout fund is actually smaller than either one of the banks.

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Mark discusses how the Federal Reserve and Covid restrictions greatly increased the price of cardboard boxes; but, with online sales softening, we should expect suppliers to shift the raw materials used to make boxes (wood pulp) into the production of other paper goods, such as toilet paper. Because our demand for toilet paper is relatively inelastic, we should see a decline in the price of toilet paper and better availability.

The market will reallocate toward consumer wants and lower prices.

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Mark talks about the recent price inflation reports, as well as reports of job openings from private sector job placement companies. Inflation was higher than expected and job openings declined. What will the Fed do? People are making painful adjustments—Domino's reported disappointing sales, because their customers are "eating in".

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Mark uses Intel Corporation, the computer chip manufacturer, as a barometer of the business cycle. He looks at the stock price in recent years, its production capacity expansion, and the company's very recent cost- and dividend-cutting moves.

Check out Mark Thornton's free book, The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century: Mises.org/Curse

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Mark Thornton explains the target as another smokescreen that was originally intended to stabilize monetary policy, currencies, and exchange rates, but has become a justification for inflation and central bank manipulation.

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On the heels of rising stock markets, record low unemployment rates, and even the plunge in the price of gasoline, Mark discusses the latest government economic reports including the hot retail sales numbers, recent increases in the CPI, and the increases in business inventories. What can be made of these confusing numbers?

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Mark Thornton takes a look back at US stock markets, the national debt, and Fed policy (ZIRP, money supply, and its balance sheet).

"After the Boom Must Come the Bust" (Radio Rothbard): Mises.org/MI_06_A

Austrian Economic Research Conference: AustrianEconomics.org

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Mark Thornton looks at how much money Americans will spend on the Super Bowl this year and discusses the accuracy of the Super Bowl Stock Market Indicator.

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Mark Thornton discusses the history of record low unemployment rates and the business cycle.

See "Unemployment Rate" (UNRATE) from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis: Mises.org/MI_04_Chart

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Will the Fed be successful with its "Immaculate Disinflation"? Or, will we still have to "pay an even higher price" for their use of Weapons of Massive Monetary Destruction in 2020-21?

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