"Taxation is the price we pay for failing to build a civilized society. The higher the tax level, the greater the failure. A centrally planned totalitarian state represents a complete defeat for the civilized world, while a totally voluntary society represents its ultimate success." -- Mark Skousen
Mark Skousen (born 1947) is an American economist, investment analyst, newsletter editor, college professor and author of more than 25 non-fiction books.
"The triumph of persuasion over force is the sign of a civilized society.""We shall never change our political leaders until we change the people who elect them."
Skousen was born in 1947 in San Diego, California, and grew up in Portland, Oregon. He earned his B.A. and Master's degree in economics from Brigham Young University and his Ph.D. in economics and monetary history from George Washington University in 1977.
Political scientist and survivalist Joel Skousen and linguist Royal Skousen are his older brothers, and Cleon Skousen, the late conservative author, was his uncle. Skousen and his wife, Jo Ann, and their five children have lived in Washington, D.C.; Nassau, Bahamas; London, England; Orlando, Florida; and New York.
Skousen was an economic analyst for the CIA from 1972 to 1975. He later worked as a consultant for IBM and Hutchinson Technology, among other Fortune 500 companies. He was a columnist for Forbes magazine from 1997 to 2001, and has contributed articles to such financial publications as The Wall Street Journal and The Journal of Economic Perspectives as well as to the libertarian periodicals Reason, Liberty and The Freeman. Dr. Mark Skousen
He has been a speaker at investment conferences around the world, InterShow New Orleans Investment Conference Investment Advice and Investment Research with a Contrarian Point of View The Oxford Club: Privacy - Prosperity - Tradition. He has also lectured for think tanks The Cato Institute Cascade Policy Institute - Oregon Public Policy, as well as at colleges and universities.
In 2002, Skousen was elected a member of the Mont Pelerin Society, an international group of social scientists and economists.
He is a regular contributor on CNBC's Kudlow & Company, for Human Events and appears frequently on C-SPAN Book TV.
Academic career
Skousen has taught economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Barnard College at Columbia University, Mercy College in New York and Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. In April 2005, Grantham University honored Skousen by renaming its School of Business "The Mark Skousen School of Business" and in 2006, he was named to the Benjamin Franklin Chair of Management at the university. His best-selling book The Making of Modern Economics (M.E.Sharpe, 2009) was just named 2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title.
Newsletter editor
Skousen is editor-in-chief of Forecasts & Strategies Forecasts & Strategies Online - Celebrating More Than 25 Years of Independent Financial Advice, an investment newsletter he founded in 1980. In 2005-2007, Skousen was the chairman of Investment U, one of the largest investment e-letters in the country, with more than 300,000 subscribers. He also heads three financial trading services: Skousen Hedge Fund Trader Skousen Hedge Fund Trader, High Income Alert Skousen High-Income Alert, and Turnaround Trader Skousen Turnaround Trader.
He is also the editor of a free email newsletter, The Worldly Philosophers Worldly Philosophers Club, which highlights the philosophy, thoughts and writings of a worldly wise figure in history, present or past, who can teach ways to make money, achieve financial and personal freedom, and enjoy life to the fullest. Highlighted figures include J. Paul Getty, Benjamin Franklin, J. P. Morgan, John Maynard Keynes, Jesse Livermore, Andrew Carnegie, King Solomon, and many other worldly philosophers, based on Skousen's large personal library of financial, business and economics books.
Noted books and writings
Skousen has written over 25 books. His economic and financial bestsellers include: The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy (Simon & Schuster, 1983); High Finance on a Low Budget (Bantam, 1981), co-authored with his wife Jo Ann; Economics on Trial (Dow Jones Irwin, 1991); Scrooge Investing (McGraw Hill, 1995); The Making of Modern Economics (M.E. Sharpe, 2001, 2009) named the 2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title; Vienna and Chicago, Friends or Foes? (Capital Press, 2005); The Big Three in Economics (M.E. Sharpe, 2007); EconoPower: How a New Generation of Economists Is Transforming the World (Wiley & Sons, 2008); and the free market textbook Economic Logic (Capital Press, 2000, new 3rd edition, 2009).
Skousen has also completed Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography, using Franklin's own words taken from the Papers of Benjamin Franklin at Yale University. The title is The Completed Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin (Regnery Publishing, 2006). Skousen, incidentally, is a descendant of Franklin. Compleated Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin - Compiled and edited by Mark Skousen, Ph.D. - Audio Book
Skousen is a proponent of the Austrian school of economic theory About Mark Skousen Book Review - Austrian Economics for Investors: Ludwig von Mises Goes to Wall Street, which maintains that economic principles are intrinsically tied to human actions and motivations, and which supports a free market as well as a minimization of government intervention in economic and personal affairs. Skousen's advocacy of these principles have contributed to his high visibility in the modern libertarian movement. Advocates for Self-Government - Libertarian Education
Skousen is the founder and producer of FreedomFest, an annual non-partisan festival of libertarians to celebrate "great books, great ideas, and great thinkers" in a liberal, open-minded society. The festival, which began in 2002 and meets every July in Las Vegas, Nevada, features authors and experts in philosophy, history, science & technology, geo-politics, economics, and the arts from around the world. FreedomFest - Where Free Minds Meet At FreedomFest 2007, Skousen announced the creation of the Free Market Hall of Fame, where anyone can vote for their favorite free-market economist, journalist, business leader, legislator, and think tank.
Presidency at FEE
Skousen served as president of the free market think tank Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) in New York from 2001 to 2002. During his tenure, Skousen established the first FEE National Convention, the Leonard E. Read Book Award (to Ken Schoolland's book, "Adventures of Jonathan Gullible"), and the James U. Blanchard III Student Scholarships.
Skousen's brief tenure as president of FEE ended on a controversial note when he resigned in late 2001 at the request of the organization's Board of Trustees. This move followed Skousen's decision to invite then-Mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani as keynote speaker for FEE's annual Liberty Banquet. Giuliani proved to be an unpopular choice among many of the organization's board members as well as several prominent libertarians.
Liberty - Reflections Forecasts & Strategies :: A Year at FEE by Mark Skousen
The Structure of Production (New York University Press, 1990) ISBN 081477895X
Economics on Trial (Irwin McGraw Hill, 1991; 2nd edition, 1993) ISBN 1556233728 Translated into Japanese.
Dissent on Keynes, editor (Praeger Publishing, 1992)
Puzzles and Paradoxes in Economics, co-authored with Kenna C. Taylor (Edward Elgar, 1997) Translated into Korean and Chinese
Economic Logic (Capital Press, 2000, 2008). 2nd Edition includes for the first time chapters on macroeconomics and government policy. Translated into Chinese by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Press
The Making of Modern Economics (M. E. Sharpe Publishers, 2001, 2009). Winner 2009 Choice Outstanding Academic Title. Now in its second printing; translated into Chinese, Turkish, Mongolian, and Spanish
The Power of Economic Thinking (Foundation for Economic Education, 2002). Translated into Chinese by Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Press
Vienna and Chicago: Friends or Foes? A Tale of Two Schools of Free-Market Economics (Capital Press, 2005). Translated in Chinese
The Completed Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin, compiled and edited by Mark Skousen (Regnery Books, 2006). Regnery Publishing has also published in paperback the original Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin, edited with a new introduction by Mark Skousen, as Vol. I (1706—1757) and The Completed Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin as Vol. II (1757—1790)
The Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes (M. E. Sharpe, 2007)
EconoPower: How a New Generation of Economists Is Transforming the World (Wiley & Sons, 2008). Translated into Korean & Portuguese
Financial Books
The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy (Simon & Schuster, 1983)
High Finance on a Low Budget (Bantam Books, 1981, Dearborn, 1993), co-authored with Jo Ann Skousen
The Investor's Bible: Mark Skousen's Principles of Investment (Phillips Publishing, 1992)
Secrets of the Great Investors, editor, audio tape series, narrated by Louis Rukeyser (Knowledge Products, 1997)
The New Scrooge Investing (McGraw Hill, 2000)
Investing in One Lesson (Regnery Publishing, Inc, 2007)
Academic Journal Articles
"Saving the Depression: A New Look at World War II," Review of Austrian Economics, 1987, vol. 2, No. 1
"A Review of the New Palgrave," Review of Austrian Economics, 1988, vol. 3, No. 1
"The Perseverance of Paul Samuelson’s Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives vol. 11, No. 2 (Spring, 1997), 137-152
"GO Beyond GDP: Introducing a New National Income Statistic," (presented at the “Macro Lunch”, Columbia Business School, paper to be submitted to American Economic Review)
“What Drives the Economy: Consumer Spending or Saving/Investment? Using GDP, Gross Output and Other National Income Statistics to Determine Economic Performance,” Backgrounder, 2004, Initiative for Policy Dialogue,[1]
Articles in Edited Volumes
“The Great Depression,” The Elgar Companion to Austrian Economics, ed. Peter J. Boettke. Hants, England: Edward Elgar, 1994
“Financial Economics,” The Elgar Companion to Austrian Economics, ed. Peter J. Boettke. Hants, England: Edward Elgar, 1994
"Say's Law, Growth Theory, and Supply Side Economics," Two Hundred Years of Say's Law, ed. Steven Kates. Hants, England: Edward Elgar, 2003
"Classical economics" and "David Ricardo" in The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism, ed. Ronald Hamowy. Sage Publications/Cato Institute, 2009
