Mark Thornton

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 on that topic, as well as on the economics of the American Civil War, economic bubbles, public finance and on topics that include the "Iron Law of Prohibition", the "Skyscraper Index", and the 18th-century Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. He is a Senior Fellow with the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Education and academic career


Thornton received his B.S. from St. Bonaventure University (1982), and his Ph.D. from Auburn University (1989). Thornton taught economics at Auburn University and served as founding faculty advisor for the Auburn University Libertarians. He was also a faculty member of Columbus State University, and is now a senior fellow at the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He is currently the Book Review Editor for the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.

Prohibition studies
Libertarian organizations, including the Independent Institute, the Cato Institute, and the Mises Institute, have published Thornton's writings on drug prohibition and prohibition in general. His research is the basis of what Richard Cowan dubbed the Iron Law of Prohibition. 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. His research and publications are the basis of the Iron Law of Prohibition which states that the enforcement of prohibition increases the potency and danger of consuming illegal drugs. Thornton's first book, The Economics of Prohibition, was praised by Murray Rothbard, who said: "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."

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. He was the Libertarian Party Candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1996 (also endorsed by the Reform Party) coming in third of four candidates. Thornton also served in various capacities with the Libertarian Party of Alabama including Vice Chairman and Chairman. In 1997 he became the Assistant Superintendent of Banking and an economic analyst for Alabama Governor, Fob James.

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). Volume 1 and Volume 2. 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 (editor; Chantal Saucier, translator) Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2010. (ISBN 978-1-61016-001-8)