Minor Issues

Has silver become a Giffen good, the famous textbook anomaly where higher prices supposedly lead to higher demand? In this episode, Mark Thornton argues the story is compelling... but wrong. Mark explains why recent surges in silver demand amid rapidly rising prices don’t overturn the law of demand. They reflect shifting demand curves as market conditions, expectations, and classifications change. The bottom line is that silver is not a paradox: it’s a timely lesson in how markets adjust while economic laws hold.

"What Are Giffen Goods? Definition, Examples, and Economic Insights" by Andrew Bloomenthal (Investopedia): https://mises.org/MI_162_A

"Did Silver Break a Fundamental Law of Demand?" Money Metals' Weekly Market Wrap Podcast (December 10, 2025): https://mises.org/MI_162_B

"Money Costs, Prices, and Alfred Marshall" by Murray Rothbard (Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market): https://mises.org/MI_162_C

“Notes on the History of the Giffen Paradox” by George J. Stigler (The Journal of Political Economy, April 1947): https://mises.org/MI_162_D

"Giffen Behavior: Theory and Evidence" by Robert T. Jensen and Nolan Miller: https://mises.org/MI_162_E

“Gray and Giffen Goods" by Etsusuke Masuda and Peter Newman (The Economic Journal, December 1981): https://mises.org/MI_162_F

“Beware of Giffen-ish Vibes in the Money Market” by Tim Hartford (Financial Times, May 2025): https://mises.org/MI_162_G

“Sir Robert Giffen and the Great Potato Famine: A Discussion of the Role of a Legend in Neoclassical Economics,” by Terrence McDonough and Joseph Eisenhaur (Journal of Economic Issues, September 1995): https://mises.org/MI_162_H

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In this special episode, Mark Thornton presents a timely interview with Elijah K. Johnson that underscores how quickly “melt-ups” can flip into sharp corrections. Mark frames the discussion around three themes: why investors should temper expectations after a major run-up; why political and financial elites will move aggressively to protect their interests when markets wobble; and why soaring gold and silver prices (however tempting) ultimately signal deeper economic and social distress rather than a clean “win” for the private sector.

Join us for the Mises Institute's first event of 2026, featuring Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell: "Entrepreneurship Beyond Politics: Mises Circle in Oklahoma City." Register today at https://mises.org/okc

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On the latest episode of Minor Issues, Mark Thornton explains why the modern discussion of the division of labor is distorted by bad theory and political incentives. Mark contrasts Adam Smith's view with the Austrian tradition—especially Mises’s—where the division of labor is driven and continuously reorganized by entrepreneurial judgment under uncertainty, disciplined by profit and loss. Mark also shows why technocrats and social engineers love an entrepreneur-less story of specialization, why Marxists found support in Smith’s labor-theory drift, and why the real gains from specialization depend on individual differences that markets harmonize through exchange.

Enter the 2026 Stocks vs. Manure Prediction Contest at https://mises.org/form/stocks-vs-manure-2026

See “The Division of Labor Is at the Very Core of Economic Growth” by Per Bylund in The Next Generation of Austrian Economics: Essays in Honor of Joseph T. Salerno: https://mises.org/MI_160_A

Join us for the Mises Institute's first event of 2026, featuring Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell: "Entrepreneurship Beyond Politics: Mises Circle in Oklahoma City." Register today at https://mises.org/okc

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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” have helped spread Austrian perspectives.

We're entering the final week to enter the 2026 Stocks vs. Manure Prediction Contest at https://mises.org/form/stocks-vs-manure-2026

Join us for the Mises Institute's first event of 2026, featuring Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell: "Entrepreneurship Beyond Politics: Mises Circle in Oklahoma City." Register today at https://mises.org/okc

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Mark Thornton revisits the Skyscraper Curse—the eerie pattern linking record-height towers to major busts—and argues the next signal is flashing for 2026. Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower has restarted and is reportedly adding floors fast, poised to surpass the world record. Mark explains why skyscraper records tend to coincide with late-cycle excess, and how to read the next 12–24 months without superstition.

The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century by Mark Thornton: https://mises.org/curse

Anatomy of the Crash, edited by Tho Bishop: https://mises.org/crash

Join us for the Mises Institute's first event of 2026, featuring Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell: "Entrepreneurship Beyond Politics: Mises Circle in Oklahoma City." Register today at https://mises.org/okc

Order a Minor Issues tumbler today! https://mises.org/MinorIssuesTumbler

Enter the 2026 Stocks vs. Manure Prediction Contest at https://mises.org/form/stocks-vs-manure-2026

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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 readiness to face low-probability, high-impact events.

"The Road to Hyperinflation" (Minor Issues, Episode 136): https://mises.org/MI_136

"The Gold-Silver Ratio" (Minor Issues, Episode 119): https://mises.org/MI_119

"On Hyperinflation: New Evidence from Zambia, the Central African Franc Zone, and Belarus" by Steve H. Hanke and Nicole Saade (World Economics Journal, December 2025): https://mises.org/MI_157_A

"Hyperinflation and the Destruction of Human Personality" by Joseph T. Salerno (lecture): https://mises.org/MI_157_B 

"Hyperinflation and The Destruction of Human Personality" by Joseph T. Salerno (Studia Humana, 2013): https://mises.org/MI_157_C

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Enter the 2026 Stocks vs. Manure Prediction Contest at https://mises.org/form/stocks-vs-manure-2026

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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 2026 Stocks vs. Manure Prediction Contest at https://mises.org/form/stocks-vs-manure-2026

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Mark Thornton appears on Metals and Miners with Gary Bohm. They explore the Federal Reserve's policies, geopolitical impacts, commodity underinvestment, AI's economic role, precious metals like gold and silver, stock market valuations, and the path to prosperity through free markets. Mark shares Austrian economics perspectives on the 2026 outlook, deflation benefits, and why government intervention fails.

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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.

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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.com

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