 Mark Thornton has a special offer for fans of minor issues, a free copy of Murray Rothbard's famous work, Anatomy of the State. This is a limited time offer, so act fast. Get yours today at Mises.org slash Issues Free. Hello, and welcome to the final edition of 2023. I'm Mark Thornton at the Mises Institute. Here at the Minor Issues Podcast, we cover issues from my vantage point as an Austrian school economist that are often ignored in the mainstream media. We also dissect heavily discussed narratives in the news for the critical issues that the mainstream media entirely overlooks. Before we look back at our first year, I'd like to thank you for your kind words, comments, and suggestions. Our correspondence is growing, and so are our numbers. We'd like this short and focused approach to knowledge and information. I'll assume, like me, that you wish more people would benefit from listening to this weekly podcast. Become a minor issuer. You know who would benefit most from this podcast. So I ask you to send to issue episode links to a friend, family member, or co-worker who would gain from it, soft sell style, every week. Thank you. Compared to everyone and everything else, the Mises Institute had a truly great year in at least three critical areas. One, ideas and ideology. More people than ever became non-believers in the state. Whether it was senseless foreign wars, vaccine awareness, or the Fed's inflation, more people realize the world is an us versus the state reality, just as Austrian economics explains. Two, people. The Institute has hired two new young faculty members this year, which will greatly expand our production, reach, and appeal across topics, disciplines, and audiences. The Institute has also hired Tom Di Lorenzo as its new president. It's hard to imagine a more knowledgeable and tireless proponent of Austrian economics and the free market society. As well as such a distinguished and fearless opponent of the unholy idols of the state. Three, lastly and symbolically, is politics. At home and abroad, the political world is in a meltdown. Just look at Argentina, Italy, Holland, and New Zealand, where statism is in fast retreat and better ideas have quickly advanced. In America, the political establishment is in complete disarray, and even the two major parties have leading candidates that reject the status quo across the board. This year in markets was a bad one for stocks, bonds, and real estate, and it could get worse next year. The major markets of the economy look ugly. Labor markets are still considered dysfunctional by even mainstream commentators. Those markets are still recovering from the COVID lockdowns, mandates, and labor exodus. Financial markets are super fragile with unsound balance sheets across the board because of the Fed. And public finance is an absolute joke that no one tells and certainly no one laughs at. Stock market spending and borrowing is a runaway disaster. The financial media bright spots are the shiny, magnificent seven large cap tech stocks that account for almost all the gain in stock market indexes in the U.S. this year. Artificial intelligence is also the shiny object of the mainstream media, as well as investors for 2023. However, these are all really new era stocks, offering up the promise of advanced technologies over an incredibly long run time horizon. They all seem highly dependent on ultra low interest rates. In other words, the Fed's Frankenstein policies of the last two decades. Now Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies had a good year and so did gold, even in the face of higher interest rates and a dollar that was relatively stable or even strong against other major currencies. Obviously, Austrians have much work to do this coming year moving forward, but also much to be thankful for. I thank you for listening.