Mark Skousen

Mark Andrew Skousen (; born October 19, 1947) is an American economist and writer. He currently teaches at Chapman University, where he has been a Presidential Fellow since 2014, and the Doti-Spogli chair in free enterprise at the Argyros School of Business and Economics since 2022.

Early life, education and family Skousen was born on October 19, 1947, in San Diego, California, and grew up in Portland, Oregon. Conservative political commentator and survival strategist Joel Skousen and linguist Royal Skousen are his older brothers. He is the nephew of W. Cleon Skousen, the political conservative and activist. Mark Skousen earned his B.A. and Master's degree in economics from Brigham Young University and his PhD in economics from George Washington University in 1977.

Skousen is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has five children with his wife Jo Ann.

Career Skousen was an economic analyst for the CIA from 1972 to 1975. He later worked as a consultant for IBM and Hutchinson Technology, and other companies. He was a columnist for Forbes magazine from 1997 to 2001, and has contributed articles to The Wall Street Journal as well as to various libertarian periodicals. He has been a speaker at investment conferences and has lectured for think tanks. From 2008 to 2010 he was a weekly contributor on CNBC's Kudlow & Company and has also appeared on C-SPAN Book TV and Fox News. Skousen has been the editor of the Forecasts & Strategies financial newsletter since 1980. He also is the editor of four trading services (Five Star Trader, Low-Priced Stock Trader, Fast Money Alert, and TNT Trader.) and publishes the Investor CAFÉ weekly electronic newsletter.

Academia Skousen has lectured on economics and finance at Columbia Business School, Barnard College, Mercy College, Rollins College, and Chapman University. In April 2005, distance education provider Grantham University renamed its online School of Business "The Mark Skousen School of Business." He currently teaches at Chapman University. and publishes his research and updates about the topic on the https://grossoutput.com/ website.

Written works Academic books High Finance on a Low Budget (Bantam Books, 1981, Dearborn, 1993), co-authored with Jo Ann Skousen The Complete Guide to Financial Privacy (Simon & Schuster, 1983) The Structure of Production (New York University Press, 1990) Economics on Trial (Irwin McGraw Hill, 1991; 2nd edition, 1993) The Investor's Bible: Mark Skousen's Principles of Investment (Phillips Publishing, 1992) Dissent on Keynes, editor (Praeger Publishing, 1992) Puzzles and Paradoxes in Economics, co-authored with Kenna C. Taylor (Edward Elgar, 1997) Secrets of the Great Investors, editor, audio tape series, narrated by Louis Rukeyser (Knowledge Products, 1997, 2006) Economic Logic (Capital Press, 2000, 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, 2024). The New Scrooge Investing (McGraw Hill, 2000) The Making of Modern Economics (M. E. Sharpe Publishers, 2001, 2009) The Power of Economic Thinking (Foundation for Economic Education, 2002) Vienna and Chicago: Friends or Foes? A Tale of Two Schools of Free-Market Economics (Capital Press, 2005) The Completed Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin, compiled and edited by Mark Skousen (Regnery Books, 2006) The Big Three in Economics: Adam Smith, Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes (M. E. Sharpe, 2007) Investing in One Lesson (Regnery Publishing, Inc, 2007) EconoPower: How a New Generation of Economists Is Transforming the World (Wiley & Sons, 2008) Maxims of Wall Street (Skousen Publishing, Inc 2011) A Viennese Waltz Down Wall Street (Laissez Faire Books, 2013) The Greatest American: Benjamin Franklin, the World’s Most Versatile Genius (Republic Book Publishers, 2025)

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, "Gross Domestic Expenditures (GDE): The Case for New National Aggregate Statistic", 2012, a working paper at University College of London "GO Beyond GDP: Introducing Gross Output, The "Top Line" in National Income Accounting", SSNR, December 13, 2024, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5002052 "The Economics of Life Made Simple", Skeptic Magazine, Volume 28 Number 1, May 9, 2023 https://archive.skeptic.com/archive/reading_room/economics-of-life-made-simple/ "The Case for a Free & Prosperous Society", Skeptic magazine, Volume 30 Number 2, July 4, 2025, https://www.skeptic.com/article/case-for-free-prosperous-society/ "A Nod to Freedom at the American Economic Association", Wall Street Journal, January 16, 2025, https://www.wsj.com/opinion/a-nod-to-freedom-at-the-american-economic-association-588a498c? "Beneath the GDP, a Recession Warning", Wall Street Journal, September 28, 2025, https://www.wsj.com/opinion/beneath-the-gdp-a-recession-warning-fff133de?

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