James M. Buchanan

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James McGill Buchanan (1919 - 2013) was an American economist best known as a pioneer of public choice theory. A founder of the new Virginia school of political economy, he made extensive contributions to the theory of public finance, constitutional economics, rent-seeking, and the economic analysis of politics. Buchanans work offered a scientific basis for conservative and libertarian political endeavors such as a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1986.

Reviews

Meadowcroft does a nice job of summarizing Buchanans published work, dividing Buchanans ideas logically rather than chronologically and showing how his ideas relate to each other Meadowcrofts taxonomy of Buchanans ideas is not the only possible one, but it seems like a good one, and someone wanting to get an overview of the general ideas in Buchanans large body of work would find Meadowcrofts framework a good way of organizing those ideas. * Randall G. Holcombe, Professor, Florida State University, USA, Public Choice review *
Despite the importance and influence of James Buchanan on modern economics, it is always surprising to see how little the writings and ideas of one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century are known in the discipline. Publishing another book about Buchanan is therefore worthwhile to disseminate and publicize his ideas to a large audience. This is what John Meadowcrofts book does and it does it well... it provides a thoughtful overview of Buchanans life, ideas and impact. * Alain Marciano, Professor, University of Montpellier, France, Review of Austrian Economics *
The volumes in this timely series comprise the most comprehensive body of material on conservative and libertarian thought yet published in a single project devoted to the subject. The series will prove an indispensable tool not only for those concerned with the history of political thought but also for those who confront the challenging task of constructing a viable contemporary conservative identity. Professor Meadowcroft had a difficult editorial task, to which he has responded with a judicious choice of thinkers and topics. * Noel O'Sullivan, Professor of Political Philosophy, the University of Hull, UK *

Author Bio

Dr. John Meadowcroft is Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Head of the Department of Political Economy at King's College London, UK. He is the author of The Ethics of the Market (2005) and co-author of Rescuing Social Capital from Social Democracy (2007).