[0:00]Welcome to the essential ideas of James Buchanan.
[0:07]James McGill Buchanan was one of the 20th century's most influential economists, and his work influenced the study of government finances, political processes and outcomes, constitutional rules and the subjective nature of costs. Born on a farm in Murphysboro, Tennessee, on October 3rd, 1919, Buchanan enrolled in the U.S. Navy and served in the Second World War. After the war, Buchanan attended Middle Tennessee State Teachers College, before earning a Master of Science from the University of Tennessee in 1941, and then a PhD in economics from the University of Chicago in 1948, where he studied under famed economist Frank Knight. Buchanan had several academic postings before settling at the University of Virginia. where Buchanan taught before retiring as Professor Emeritus. Some of Buchanan's most influential work, which spans six decades of scholarly research, include Public Principles of Public Debt, The Calculus of Consent, The Limits of Liberty, Democracy in Deficit,
[1:20:03]The Power to Tax, The Reason of Rules,
[1:23:04]and Politics by Principle, Not Interest.
[1:28:09]Buchanan is best known for co-founding Public Choice, an area of economic study that focuses on collective decision making and outcomes,
[1:36:06]particularly in politics, using the same methods and assumptions used by economists to study markets.
[1:42:10]Buchanan's insights that politicians and government workers are motivated by the same self-interested incentives and constraints as business people and private citizens,
[1:51:06]was one of the reasons he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1986.
[1:56:08]Throughout his career, Buchanan made contributions across many areas of economics, which continue to influence how we understand the world today.
[2:03:05]For more information on James Buchanan, visit essentialjamesbuchanan.org.
[2:09:05]And to learn more about essential scholars, visit EssentialScholars.org.
