Joshua Mawhorter

Joshua Mawhorter is assistant editor of Mises.org. He was a summer fellow at the Mises Institute (2023) and a government/economics and US history teacher since 2016. Josh has a bachelor’s degree in political science from California State University, Bakersfield, a master’s in political science from Southern New Hampshire University, and a master’s in Austrian economics from the Mises Graduate School (2023). He has self-published a few books, including The First Constitution: The Articles of Confederation, Tyrannosaurus Debt: The Student Loan Crisis and How to Survive, and “An Austrian Critique of Modern Monetary Theory”, his thesis. He also enjoys teaching in the areas of theology, the Old Testament, church history, apologetics, and philosophy.

Articles

Review: Inflation and the Family: A Book Almost 300 Years in the Making

08/22/2025 Mises Wire Joshua Mawhorter

While Cantillon used the effects on family life to illustrate monetary theory, Degner lingers to employ sound monetary theory to trace out the effects on the family.

You Can’t Yell “Chicken Jockey” in a Crowded Theater (Except When You Can)

08/15/2025 Mises Wire Joshua Mawhorter

The hackneyed argument for government regulation of speech—yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater—has always been a red herring. As Murray Rothbard wrote, private property rights should be front-and-center when dealing with free speech issues.

The Last Day of Barter and Questions for the First Day of Chartalism

08/08/2025 Mises Wire Joshua Mawhorter

In examining the Austrian regression theorem of money, Joshua Mawhorter takes on the chartalist/MMT claim that government gives money its value. The chartalist/MMT advocates lack a necessary cause-and-effect mechanism to prove their claims.

Media

You Can’t Yell “Chicken Jockey” in a Crowded Theater (Except When You Can)

08/15/2025 Joshua Mawhorter

The hackneyed argument for government regulation of speech -- yelling "FIRE" in a crowded theater -- has always been a red herring. As Murray Rothbard wrote, private property rights should be front-and-center when dealing with free speech issues.

The Last Day of Barter and Questions for the First Day of Chartalism

08/08/2025 Joshua Mawhorter

In examining the Austrian Regression Theorem of Money, Joshua Mawhorter takes on the Chartalist/MMT claim that government gives money its value. The Chartalist/MMT advocates lack a necessary cause-and-effect mechanism to prove their claims.

Why Governments Burned Money

08/01/2025 Joshua Mawhorter

While it is true that colonial era governments sometimes burned paper money after receiving it in the form of taxation, why they burned the money is for reasons other than what MMT advocates are claiming. In the end, the MMT promoters are telling a false history.