Choosy

James Buchanan was born 100 years ago (and a few days ago--this piece was bumped). Not the president, who died over 100 years ago, but the economist, who won the Nobel Prize in 1986.  I don't understand his parents--why would you name your kid after a president? Even if he becomes famous, like Buchanan did, people will hear his name and still think of someone else. (I almost decided to use a picture of the president to teach them a lesson.)

I don't claim to know much about Buchanan, or economics for that matter, but it's my understanding that he's best known for his work in Public Choice theory.  In fact, I think it's pretty much his baby. Public Choice theory deals with how people make political decisions the same way they make economic decisions.

I wouldn't have been thinking at all about Buchanan except a couple years ago a book came out attacking him and his followers.  Democracy In Chains. The book seems to claim, among other things, that Buchanan gave the American right (particularly libertarians) an excuse to indulge in racism. Even though I know little about Buchanan, I know enough to get that this book is nonsense.  As far as I can tell, it's a poorly-researched partisan attack. (Actually, that's not uncommon in the academic world.  It happens often enough, in fact, that you just pray for a well-researched partisan attack.)