Mark Thornton (born June 7, 1960) is an American

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

of the

Austrian School The Austrian school is a Heterodox economics, heterodox Schools of economic thought, school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result primarily from the motivat ...

. DiLorenzo, Thomas (2011-02-11
My Associations with Liars, Bigots, and Murderers
'' LewRockwell.com'' He has written on the topic of

prohibition of drugs The prohibition of drugs through sumptuary legislation or religious law is a common means of attempting to prevent the recreational use of certain intoxicating substances. An area has a prohibition of drugs when its government uses the for ...

, the economics of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, and the "

Skyscraper Index The Skyscraper Index is a concept put forward by Andrew Lawrence, a property analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, in January 1999, which showed that List of tallest buildings in the world, the world's tallest buildings have risen on the eve ...

". He is a Senior Fellow with the

Ludwig von Mises Institute The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and anarcho ...

Mark Thornton fellow page

website, ''accessed December 21, 2013.'' in Alabama and a Research Fellow with the

Independent Institute The Independent Institute is an American libertarian think tank founded in 1986 by David J. Theroux and based in Oakland, California. The institute has more than 140 research fellows and is organized into seven centers addressing a range of pol ...

.Mark Thornton biography page
at

website, ''accessed December 21, 2013.''

Life and academic career

Thornton grew up in

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

, in an Irish Catholic family of entrepreneurs who were "Democrat in politics".Joseph S. Diedrich
Libertarian America: A conversation with Mark Thornton

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout Washington, D. ...

, March 24, 2013. Thornton received his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

(1982), and his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree from

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

(1989). Thornton taught

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. He formerly taught at

Columbus State University Columbus State University is a public university in Columbus, Georgia, United States. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. History ...

where he was awarded the Faculty Research and Scholarship Award in 2002. He is now a Senior Fellow at the

, where he is book review editor for its ''

Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics The ''Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering heterodox economics published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute.Lee, Frederic S., and Cronin, Bruce C. (2010)"Research Quality Rankings of Heter ...

''. As a writer for the

Mises Institute The Ludwig von Mises Institute for Austrian Economics, or Mises Institute, is a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Auburn, Alabama, that is a center for Austrian economics, right-wing libertarian thought and the paleolibertarian and ana ...

, he is known for warning of a housing bubble in 2004. He has written about prohibition-related issues.

Prohibition studies

Thornton's first book, ''The Economics of Prohibition'', was praised by Thornton's supervisor at the Mises Institute, its vice-president

Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School,Ronald Hamowy, ed., 2008, The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism', Cato Institute, Sage, , p. 62: "a leading economist of the Austri ...

, who is quoted on the book cover of the 2007 edition as writing: "Thornton's book... arrives to fill an enormous gap, and it does so splendidly...This is an excellent work making an important contribution to scholarship as well as to the public policy debate." Reviewer David R. Henderson of the Hoover Institution wrote, "Thornton's book contains much valuable information on prohibition and cites many sources. But the economically literate book on prohibition that makes a case for legalization has yet to be written." Thornton debated the War on Drugs at Oxford Union in 2014. Libertarian organizations have published Thornton's articles on drug and alcohol prohibition, and he was once interviewed on the topic of prohibition by

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (; AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. With 2,400 employees of 100 nationalities, AFP has an editorial presence in 260 c ...

. Thornton contributed a chapter to Jefferson Fish's book ''How to Legalize Drugs''.

Political activities

Thornton ran for

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

.Gadsden Times
Nov 4, 1984. Thornton has been the vice chairman and chairman of the Libertarian Party of Alabama. In 1988, he became the first Libertarian Party office-holder in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

when he was elected

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. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

, a local law-enforcement position.Mark Thornton faculty page
, Ludwig Von Mises Institute website, ''accessed December 21, 2013. He was the Libertarian Party's Candidate for the US Senate in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

. He was also endorsed by the Reform Party, and came in third of four candidates.

Books

*
The Economics of Prohibition
'. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, 1991. () * '' Tariffs, Blockades, and Inflation: The Economics of the Civil War'' (with Robert B. Ekelund, Jr). Delaware: Scholarly Resource Books, 2004. () *
The Quotable Mises
' (editor). Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2005. () * ''The Bastiat Collection'' (editor)
Volume 1
an
Volume 2
Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2007. ()
''An Essay on Economic Theory: An English translation of Richard Cantillon’s Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en Général''
(Thornton, editor; Chantal Saucier, translator) Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2010. ()

References

External links

Mark Thornton, profile in Mises.org
*
How Prohibition Made Pot More Potent: Q&A with Auburn University's Mark Thornton
" July 2013, ''Reason'' magazine video, five minutes * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Mark 1960 births Living people 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American male writers Alabama Libertarians American economics writers 21st-century American economists American political writers Auburn University alumni Auburn University faculty Austrian School economists American drug policy reform activists Mises Institute people Place of birth missing (living people) American male non-fiction writers