What role did James M. Buchanan serve during World War II?

James M. Buchanan served as an officer on Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's operations planning staff assigned to Honolulu Hawaii from March 1942 until November 1945. He completed his last month of training during the attack on Pearl Harbor on the 7th of December 1941 before being discharged later that year.

How did Frank Knight influence James M. Buchanan's economic views?

Frank Knight taught James M. Buchanan at the University of Chicago starting in 1945 and became his de facto PhD supervisor. Within six weeks of starting his studies Buchanan converted into a zealous advocate of the market order under Knight's instruction.

Why did James M. Buchanan co-author The Calculus of Consent with Gordon Tullock?

James M. Buchanan wrote The Calculus of Consent Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy published in 1962 because those who should know what democracy actually was did not understand it. Together he and Gordon Tullock set out to provide an optimal set of political rules for society by applying public choice theory to taxation expenditure decisions budgets and the political process itself.

When did James M. Buchanan die and where did he spend his final years?

James M. Buchanan died at their farm on the 9th of January 2013 at age 93 after remaining at George Mason University until retirement. He continued with emeritus status following his retirement from the university.

James M. Buchanan: the story on HearLore

Q: When was James M. Buchanan born and where did he grow up?

James M. Buchanan was born on the 3rd of October 1919 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He grew up on a farm that suffered during the 1920s when his father borrowed heavily to mechanize operations.

Q: What policy advice did James M. Buchanan give regarding Chilean military rule?

James M. Buchanan provided policy advice and constitutional political economy arguments to Augusto Pinochet via the Mercatus Center while also allegedly providing an analytical defense of military rule to a predominantly Chilean audience. He cautioned in a 1984 letter that state-sponsored unregulated voucher systems could have unintended consequences including race-class-cultural segregation.

James McGill Buchanan Jr. was born on the 3rd of October 1919 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He grew up on a farm that suffered during the 1920s when his father borrowed heavily to mechanize operations. By the time James was old enough to work there, all labor was done manually or with mules and horses. His family lived without indoor plumbing or electricity yet maintained a library of political books from his grandfather John P. Buchanan who served as governor from 1891 to 1893. His mother insisted he never miss school despite the demands of farm life. In September 1941 he attended the United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School in New York. He was assigned to Honolulu Hawaii in March 1942 where he served as an officer on Admiral Chester W. Nimitz's operations planning staff. Buchanan attributed his dislike of Eastern elites to his six months of training in New York. He believed there was overt discrimination against young men from the South or West favoring those from establishment universities in the Northeast. Out of twenty boys from these elite schools twelve or thirteen were picked for special roles out of a total group of 600 men. He completed his last month of training during the 7th of December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. He was discharged in November 1945.

With support from his wife Ann Bakke and the G.I. Bill education subsidy available to war veterans Buchanan applied to graduate school. When he began his studies at the University of Chicago in 1945 he was unaware how market-oriented the institution truly was. He stated that he was essentially socialist until he enrolled in a course taught by Frank Knight. Knight also taught leading economic thinkers such as Milton Friedman and George Stigler. Within six weeks of starting his studies Buchanan said he was converted into a zealous advocate of the market order. Knight became his de facto PhD supervisor and his 1948 dissertation Fiscal Equity in a Federal State was heavily influenced by Knight. Photographs of Knight hung on his office walls ever after alongside images of Swedish economist Knut Wicksell. Buchanan did not consider himself part of the Austrian or Chicago schools but served as president of the Mont Pelerin Society from 1984 to 1986. He shared many common beliefs with these groups while maintaining independent thought. He first read Wicksell's Finanztheoretische Untersuchungen essay A New Principle of Just Taxation in 1948. He translated it from German and later cited Wicksell as an important precursor of modern public choice theory.

Buchanan met Gordon Tullock who had a law degree but no formal training in economics when Tullock accepted a postdoctoral position at the University of Virginia in 1958. The two complemented each other with Buchanan acting as philosopher and Tullock as scientist. Together they set out to provide an optimal set of political rules for society. In 1962 they published The Calculus of Consent Logical Foundations of Constitutional Democracy which outlined public choice theory. Buchanan said he was motivated to write this work because those who should know what democracy actually was did not understand it. They started to question taxation expenditure decisions budgets and the political process itself. The book applied ideas from pioneering public choice school analysis to public finance. Buchanan received research support and assistance from the Brookings Institution for related books. In the same year he began drafts of his 1967 book Public Finance in Democratic Process Fiscal Institutions and the Individual Choice. This work analyzed how individual behavior affected fiscal institutions in situations related to collective choice such as income tax and public use of economic resources. He argued that the primary way individuals make collective choices is by voting.

After completing his PhD in 1948 Buchanan taught at the University of Tennessee as associate professor and later full professor until 1951. He served as department chair at Florida State University from 1951 until 1956. From 1955 to 1956 he was a Fulbright Scholar in Italy where he read works of neoclassical economists Maffeo Pantaleoni Antonio De Viti De Marco and Vilfredo Pareto. These Italian thinkers became major influences on his work regarding public debt and fiscal theory. He taught at the University of Virginia from 1956 to 1968 then UCLA from 1968 to 1969 before moving to Virginia Tech from 1969 to 1983. At Virginia Tech he held the title Distinguished Professor of Economics. In 1969 Buchanan Tullock and Charles J. Goetz established the Center for Study of Public Choice at Virginia Polytechnic Institute Blacksburg with Buchanan as its first director. In 1983 Buchanan relocated the entire center including seven faculty members to George Mason University Fairfax. He complained that Virginia Tech was losing its status as unique center for public choice. He received an annual salary of over $100,000 at George Mason which was a relatively unknown state university having gained independent status from the University of Virginia in 1972. Over the next decades George Mason became the largest public university in Virginia.

There was a long history of neoliberal economists in Chile even before Augusto Pinochet's 1973 coup d'état that deposed President Salvador Allende. Through the 1970s and 1980s Chilean economists known as the Chicago Boys who studied under Milton Friedman applied his economic theories in government positions across South America. This included work within the military dictatorship of Chile from 1973 to 1990. The Political Constitution of the Republic of Chile of 1980 came into full force in March 1981 establishing a market-oriented model based on Chicago School ideas. Buchanan provided policy advice and constitutional political economy arguments to Pinochet via the Mercatus Center. He also allegedly provided an analytical defense of military rule to a predominantly Chilean audience. Hayek also visited Chile and Pinochet that year. In later years Buchanan no longer held the same ideas on school vouchers expressed in his 1959 report. He cautioned in a 1984 letter to Arthur Seldon that state-sponsored unregulated voucher systems could have unintended consequences including race-class-cultural segregation. While vouchers would ideally promote market competition they might not achieve exposure to other races classes or cultures in practice.

Buchanan received the 1986 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for development of the contractual and constitutional bases for theory of economic and political decision making. He was awarded the 2006 National Humanities Medal for his development of economic analysis of politics. An honorary doctoral degree from Universidad Francisco Marroquín in Guatemala City followed in 2001. His work initiated research on how politicians' and bureaucrats' self-interest utility maximization and other non-wealth-maximizing considerations affect their decision-making. He remained at George Mason University until retirement after which he continued with emeritus status. The center functioned as part of James M. Buchanan Center for Political Economy from 1998 to 2002. Middle Tennessee State University established the Buchanan Fellowship program awarding 20 first-year students annually. A Buchanan Transfer Fellowship program is awarded to 30 transfer students each year. The Buchanan Family Reading Room at the James E. Walker Library was funded by a gift from Buchanan's family. In his 2017 publication Richard Wagner described how Buchanan's scholarship continues to influence law ethics political science and economics in the 21st century. Buchanan died at their farm on the 9th of January 2013 at age 93.

James M. Buchanan.

The Chicago Conversion

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Virginia Tech And George Mason

Chile And The Koch Connection

The Nobel Prize And Legacy

The Chicago Conversion

The Calculus Of Consent

Virginia Tech And George Mason

Chile And The Koch Connection

The Nobel Prize And Legacy