What have the Austrians ever done for us?

In terms of understanding the importance of liberty, free markets, and, particularly, how government overreach in economic matters results in long-term damage and decline, the answer is a lot.

However, Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and other members of the so-called Austrian School have long occupied a fringe position in conventional economic thought and have been largely excluded from policymakers' toolkits, which are dominated by Keynesian frameworks.

But is this changing? The growing interest in non-state-backed money, the rise of social media, and the Milei Revolution underway in Argentina all suggest it is.

In particular, Javier Milei strongly aligns his worldview with that of the Austrian School and cites, among others, Mises, Hayek and Murray Rothbard as his philosophical heroes.

I was honoured when Dr Mark Thornton of Auburn University and the Mises Institute agreed to join me for a discussion on the Austrian School and its growth since the early 1980s. At that time, we were both econ-undergraduates reading works such as Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, von Mises' Human Action, and Rothbard's Man, Economy & State.

We had a great conversation in which Mark outlined his optimistic view of how Austrian ideas can help us understand the investment landscape and the broader significance of Milei's reform agenda in Argentina.

Mark's published works include The Skyscraper Curse: How Austrian Economics Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century.

I began by asking Mark about a former colleague of his at the Mises Institute, Roger Garrison. It turns out we might have attended the same Summer School that Roger taught 45 years ago. As they say, it's a small world.

Please enjoy my conversation with the maverick Austrian economist, Dr Mark Thornton.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity.

Hayek for the 21st Century: Essays in Political Economy/ Order a FREE copy of the book or multiple copies! Also, you can download the PDF and ePub versions using this link: https://mises.org/library/book/hayek-21st-century-essays-political-economy

I visited Buenos Aires in November last year.

I wanted to see firsthand what was going on under the newly elected President, Javier Milei. I met some fascinating people who shared their stories and perspectives on the Milei Revolution.

As I was researching an article about my visit, I read some early accounts of the rise of Milei and the stories told about him in 2022 and early 2023.

In the readers’ comments section under a rather scathing article about him in the Buenos Aires Times, there was a short but forthright comment that explained why the reader thought Milei was likely to win the Presidency. It was from a reader named Jeffrey Stout, who seemed to be a lone voice in the comments section, taking this counter view.

I looked up Jeffrey on LinkedIn and asked him a couple of questions. It turned out Jeffrey was in BA and only a short walk from where I was staying, and the following day, he met me for lunch in the Argentinian November Spring sunshine.

Jeffrey, a successful businessman and US citizen, knew what he was talking about, and he kindly spent a couple of hours helping understand a few fundamentals of how things worked, or most often didn’t work, in his adopted country.

12 months on, with the midterms out of the way, I reconnected with Jeffrey for an update on what had happened over the year since we met, and how he sees things shaping up. He kindly agreed to record this interview. And this is what he told me.

Please enjoy my conversation with Jeffrey Stout.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity

I visited Buenos Aires in November last year.

I wanted to see firsthand what was going on under the newly elected President, Javier Milei. I met some fascinating people who shared their stories and perspectives on the Milei Revolution.

As I was researching an article about my visit, I read some early accounts of the rise of Milei and the stories told about him in 2022 and early 2023.

In the readers’ comments section under a rather scathing article about him in the Buenos Aires Times, there was a short but forthright comment that explained why the reader thought Milei was likely to win the Presidency. It was from a reader named Jeffrey Stout, who seemed to be a lone voice in the comments section, taking this counter view.

I looked up Jeffrey on LinkedIn and asked him a couple of questions. It turned out Jeffrey was in BA and only a short walk from where I was staying, and the following day he met me for lunch in the Argentinian November Spring sunshine.

Jeffrey, a successful businessman and US citizen, knew what he was talking about, and he kindly spent a couple of hours helping understand a few fundamentals of how things worked, or most often didn’t work, in his adopted country.

12 months on, with the midterms out of the way, I reconnected with Jeffrey for an update on what had happened over the year since we met, and how he sees things shaping up. He kindly agreed to record this interview. And this is what he told me.

Please enjoy my conversation with Jeffrey Stout.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity

On the 27th of November, I had the good fortune to speak with a friend of the pod, Simon French, Head of Research at Panmure Liberum, and Thomas Moore, Senior Investment Director at Aberdeen, to discuss the UK Budget and its implications.

Simon, who writes a regular column in the Times, is a go-to person on the UK economy, and Thomas is steeped in experience and understanding of the value and income attractions of UK equities, with a long and successful track record of managing the Aberdeen Equity Income Trust.

We had a great chat and distinguished the essential differences between the UK economy and the UK market. But also at the risk of mansplaining, they also identified what more needs to be done for the UK economy to deliver growth and, importantly, to make UK assets more attractive to global capital.

But of course, none of what you are about to hear is any kind of advice, but just for your information and hopefully entertainment. Please take personal financial advice before investing a penny of your money into these crazy markets.

And with that said, please enjoy my conversation with Simon French and Thomas Moore.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity.

Get ready for a touch of mansplaining as Simon French of Panmure Liberum and Thomas Moore of Aberdeen discuss the Budget and its implications for UK equities.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity

A few weeks ago, friend of the pod, Mark Wharrier, and I were invited to the 6th-anniversary party for the fund manager, Kernow Asset Management.

CEO Ed Hugo and CIO Alyx Wood have featured on previous episodes.

But today, Mark and I chat with Alyx about his approach to the UK, why he finds it an attractive market with his active contrarian long-short strategy, and which ideas he is currently most interested in and invested in.

We had a great discussion, with Mark sharing his valuable perspective as a successful UK equity fund manager over many years, and Alyx talking about his investment process, the lessons he has learnt, and why he is now unemployable elsewhere, given how much fun he derives from doing what he is doing.

But as ever, none of what you are about to hear is any kind of advice, but just for your information and hopefully entertainment. Please take personal financial advice before investing a penny of your money into these crazy markets.

With that, please enjoy our conversation with Alyx Wood.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity.

I increasingly believe that to invest in today’s markets, one needs a macroeconomic framework. Pure momentum or valuation approaches are insufficient. I have been keen to talk with people who understand the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape we operate in and have mental models for using these dynamics to increase the likelihood of identifying risk asymmetries.

Two of my guests this year from the world of global thematic investing, David Dredge and Marvin Barth, both cited Mark Farrington as someone they refer to for insight, particularly on developments in Asia.

Mark Farrington writes about global thematic investing in his Watchtower series on Substack: The Global Watchtower, The Dollar Watchtower, and the BoJ Watchtower. Mark is as prolific as he is insightful.

It was a great pleasure to catch up with Mark for a fascinating conversation about his experience and learnings from a long career following developments in Asia —from the rise of Japan in the 70s and 80s to its lost decade and the rise of China.

In particular, I was keen to ask Mark whether Japan can normalise its monetary policy without collapsing the global financial system. Will China follow Japan into a lost decade of debt deflation? And how poorly understood Asian markets might impact our economies and financial markets in a new world order marked by the reassertion of economic nationalism.

Mark delivered a masterclass of the how’s and why’s of global thematic investing, it is an episode that should have a long shelf life. It is one of those episodes that I have learnt more from each time I have listened to it.

But of course, none of what you are about to hear is any kind of advice; it's just for your information and entertainment. Please seek personal financial advice before investing a penny in these crazy markets.

With that, please enjoy my conversation with global thematic investor Mark Farrington.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity

I increasingly believe that to invest in today’s markets, one needs a macroeconomic framework. Pure momentum or valuation approaches are insufficient. I have been keen to talk with people who understand the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape we operate in and have mental models for using these dynamics to increase the likelihood of identifying risk asymmetries.

Two of my guests this year from the world of global thematic investing, David Dredge and Marvin Barth, both cited Mark Farrington as someone they refer to for insight, particularly on developments in Asia.

Mark Farrington writes about global thematic investing in his Watchtower series on Substack: The Global Watchtower, The Dollar Watchtower, and the BoJ Watchtower. Mark is as prolific as he is insightful.

It was a great pleasure to catch up with Mark for a fascinating conversation about his experience and learnings from a long career following developments in Asia —from the rise of Japan in the 70s and 80s to its lost decade and the rise of China.

In particular, I was keen to ask Mark whether Japan can normalise its monetary policy without collapsing the global financial system. Will China follow Japan into a lost decade of debt deflation? And how poorly understood Asian markets might impact our economies and financial markets in a new world order marked by the reassertion of economic nationalism.

Mark delivered a masterclass of the how’s and why’s of global thematic investing, it is an episode that should have a long shelf life. It is one of those episodes that I have learnt more from each time I have listened to it.

But of course, none of what you are about to hear is any kind of advice; it's just for your information and entertainment. Please seek personal financial advice before investing a penny in these crazy markets.

With that, please enjoy my conversation with global thematic investor Mark Farrington.

Brought to you by Progressive Equity