Minor Issues

Revenge of the Skyscraper Curse

Mark Thornton

Mark Thornton revisits the Skyscraper Curse—the eerie pattern linking record-height towers to major busts—and argues the next signal is flashing for 2026. Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower has restarted and is reportedly adding floors fast, poised to surpass the world record. Mark explains why skyscraper records tend to coincide with late-cycle excess, and how to read the next 12–24 months without superstition.

The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century by Mark Thornton: https://mises.org/curse

Anatomy of the Crash, edited by Tho Bishop: https://mises.org/crash

Join us for the Mises Institute’s first event of 2026, featuring Keith Smith, Caitlin Long, Ryan McMaken, Per Bylund, and Timothy Terrell: “Entrepreneurship Beyond Politics: Mises Circle in Oklahoma City.” Register today at https://mises.org/okc

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