There is no clear basis in economics, ethics, efficiency, or fairness for Minimum Wage Laws. The minimum wage works the way it was intended one hundred years ago.

Download lecture slides at https://Mises.org/MU23_PPT_16.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on 25 July 2023.

Mises University 2023

Minimum Wage | Mark Thornton

On this episode, Mark Thornton breaks down the political pressure from Trump, market demands for cheap money, and the Federal Reserve’s real fears: a collapsing dollar, rising inflation, and soaring long-term rates. Mark traces the history of interest rate manipulation, the precarious state of US debt, and why Chairman Powell may be clinging to high rates—not for the public good, but to save face before his 2026 exit. With the dollar weakening and deficits exploding, Mark explains why the next crisis could be just one rate cut away.

Additional Resources

“Trump Is Wrong about Interest Rates“ by Ryan McMaken (Radio Rothbard Podcast): https://mises.org/MI_129_A

“Will Fed Cut Rates By 3%? Is Massive Inflation Returning? Economist Steve Hanke Answers”: https://mises.org/MI_129_B

“Federal Funds Effective Rate”: https://mises.org/MI_129_C

“Nominal Broad U.S. Dollar Index”: https://mises.org/MI_129_D

“Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 30-Year Constant Maturity, Quoted on an Investment Basis”: https://mises.org/MI_129_E

“Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee, June 17–18, 2025” (PDF): https://mises.org/MI_129_F

“US FOMC Meeting Minutes (June 17-18, 2025)” by Ksenia Bushmeneva: https://mises.org/MI_129_G

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Be sure to follow Minor Issues at https://Mises.org/MinorIssues

Why Jay Powell’s Fed Will Not Cut Interest Rates

After promising to end the Ukraine war immediately, and to stay out of Middle East wars, President Trump has instead doubled down on intervening in both conflicts.

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America-First Foreign Policy Is Dead

The right dismisses economics at its peril. Tom Woods shows why Austrian economics holds the key to solving the very cultural and economic crises that MAGA claims to care about.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 20, 2025.

Mises University is the world’s leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

Austrian Economics in the Age of MAGA

Professor Salerno traces the birth of the Austrian School to Carl Menger’s revolutionary insight: prices emerge from human wants, choices, and the subjective value of each unit consumed.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 21, 2025.

Mises University is the world's leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

The Birth of the Austrian School

Jeffrey Herbener explains how Austrian price theory reveals the logic of voluntary exchange and subjective value, and why market prices emerge not from production costs, but from personal preferences and economizing choices

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 21, 2025.

Mises University is the world's leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

Subjective Value and Market Prices

"The word praxeology can be used in two different ways. One is for a science of human action, as developed by Ludwig von Mises and his successors, principally Murray Rothbard. And the other is for the deductive method used in the science of human action."

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 21, 2025.

Mises University is the world's leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

Praxeology

Entrepreneurs are the market’s driving force: risk-takers who organize capital and labor to meet uncertain consumer needs. Without them, there is no market economy.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 21, 2025.

Mises University is the world’s leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

Entrepreneurship

Dr. Sandy Klein walks through the origins and essential functions of money, showing how barter’s pitfalls led to the spontaneous emergence of money as a medium of exchange. She explains Menger's and Mises’s insights into money’s evolution, why gold and silver prevailed, and how inflation and counterfeiting distort economies.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 21, 2025.

Mises University is the world's leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 21, 2025.

Mises University is the world's leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

Money

David Howden reveals how banking, especially fractional reserves and central bank manipulations, creates instability and inflation. He also explains why a 100% reserve system could prevent crises, and why no one on Wall Street wants that to happen.

Recorded at the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama, on July 21, 2025.

Mises University is the world's leading instructional program in the Austrian School of economics, and is the essential training ground for economists who are looking beyond the mainstream.

Banking

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Minimum Wage | Mark Thornton

Mises Institute

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