IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/pubcho/v183y2020i3d10.1007_s11127-020-00806-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From subjectivism to constitutionalism: the intellectual journey of James M. Buchanan through his Italian heroes

Author

Listed:
  • Giuseppe Eusepi

    (Sapienza University of Rome)

Abstract

Based primarily on personal conversations with James M. Buchanan, this paper outlines three fundamental aspects of the Italian tradition found in Buchanan’s scholarship. The first is the particular emphasis on the role of the state. The second is the analysis of subjective cost. The third is the application of subjective cost to democratic public finance. This paper will focus on the latter two aspects, concentrating on two pioneering works on which Buchanan grounded two of his most important books written during the first part of his long career. The first is Public Principles of Public Debt, which profoundly was influenced by de Viti de Marco, the second is Cost and Choice, wherein along with de Viti de Marco, we find themes echoing Francesco Ferrara.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Eusepi, 2020. "From subjectivism to constitutionalism: the intellectual journey of James M. Buchanan through his Italian heroes," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 273-285, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:183:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00806-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11127-020-00806-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11127-020-00806-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11127-020-00806-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eusepi, Giuseppe, 1987. "General Implications of Subjectivism and Dynamics in Buchanan’s Works," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 40(1), pages 55-66.
    2. Eusepi Giuseppe, 1991. "Before And After “Cost And Choice”," Journal des Economistes et des Etudes Humaines, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 135-150, March.
    3. Jevons, William Stanley, 1871. "The Theory of Political Economy," History of Economic Thought Books, McMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought, number jevons1871.
    4. Giuseppe Eusepi & Richard E. Wagner, 2013. "Tax Prices in a Democratic Polity: The Continuing Relevance of Antonio de Viti de Marco," History of Political Economy, Duke University Press, vol. 45(1), pages 99-121, Spring.
    5. Giuseppe Eusepi & Richard E. Wagner, 2017. "Public Debt," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 17704.
    6. Geoffrey Brennan & Giuseppe Eusepi, 2002. "The Dubious Ethics of Debt Default," Public Finance Review, , vol. 30(6), pages 546-561, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniel J. Smith, 2020. "James M. Buchanan centennial birthday academic conference: an introduction to the special issue," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 223-226, June.
    2. Art Carden & M. Scott King & Audrey Redford & James E. Hanley, 2021. "James M. Buchanan’s Constrained Vision in Cost and Choice ," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 36(Fall 2021), pages 91-109.
    3. Michele Lemme, 2024. "Constitutional Constraints on Public Debt in the Ecological Transition Era," European Journal of Comparative Economics, Cattaneo University (LIUC), vol. 21(1), pages 97-121, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Richard E. Wagner, 2019. "American Democracy and the Problem of Fiscal Deficits," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 15(2), pages 199-216, December.
    2. Giuseppe Eusepi, 2021. "Richard M. Salsman, The Political Economy of Public Debt: Three Centuries of Theory and Evidence. Cheltenham, UK, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 2017. Viii + 322 pages. USD 140.00 (hardcover)," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 34(3), pages 419-423, September.
    3. Andrew Lynn, 2022. "Ethics, Economics, and the Specter of Naturalism: The Enduring Relevance of the Harmony Doctrine School of Economics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 178(3), pages 661-673, July.
    4. Antoinette Baujard, 2016. "Utilitarianism and anti-utilitarianism," Chapters, in: Gilbert Faccarello & Heinz D. Kurz (ed.), Handbook on the History of Economic Analysis Volume III, chapter 40, pages 576-588, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. Böckers, Veit & Heimeshoff, Ulrich, 2014. "The extent of European power markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 102-111.
    6. Yoann Verger, 2015. "Sraffa and ecological economics: review of the literature," Working Papers hal-01182894, HAL.
    7. Gabriel Leite Mota, 2022. "Unsatisfying ordinalism: The breach through which happiness (re)entered economics," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 513-528, June.
    8. Neri Salvadori & Rodolfo Signorino, 2016. "Competition," Chapters, in: Gilbert Faccarello & Heinz D. Kurz (ed.), Handbook on the History of Economic Analysis Volume III, chapter 6, pages 70-81, Edward Elgar Publishing.
      • Salvadori, Neri & Signorino, Rodolfo, 2011. "Competition," MPRA Paper 38387, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Amedeo Fossati & Marcello Montefiori, 2016. "Antonio De Viti de Marco, political competition, and the principle of minimum means," Working papers 49, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    10. Amir, Shmuel, 1995. "Welfare maximization in economic theory: Another viewpoint," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 6(3), pages 359-376, August.
    11. Böheim, René & Hackl, Franz & Hölzl-Leitner, Michael, 2021. "The impact of price adjustment costs on price dispersion in e-commerce," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    12. Klaus Wälde & Agnes Moors, 2016. "Current Emotion Research in Economics," Working Papers 1612, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    13. Seema Jayachandran & Michael Kremer, 2006. "Odious Debt," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 82-92, March.
    14. Luigino Bruni & Robert Sugden, 2013. "Reclaiming Virtue Ethics for Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(4), pages 141-164, Fall.
    15. Manuela Mosca, 2016. "Antonio de Viti de Marco as a Political Commentator in the Daily Press," HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT AND POLICY, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2016(1), pages 43-63.
    16. David Simpson, 2013. "The Rediscovery of Classical Economics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15080.
    17. Richard Wagner, 2013. "What kind of state in our future? Fact and Conjecture in Vito Tanzi’s Government versus Markets," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 26(1), pages 93-104, March.
    18. Meacci, Ferdinando, 1997. "On Working and Circulating Capital," MPRA Paper 11763, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 23 Dec 2008.
    19. Vind, Karl, 1995. "Perfect competition or the core," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 1733-1745, December.
    20. Ernesto Longobardi & Antonio Pedone, 2018. "On some recent proposals of public debt restructuring in the Eurozone," Chapters, in: Giuseppe Eusepi & Richard E. Wagner (ed.), Debt Default and Democracy, chapter 6, pages 84-123, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    James Buchanan; Francesco Ferrara; Antonio de Viti de Marco; Subjectivist economics; Cost theory; Public debt;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B31 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought: Individuals - - - Individuals
    • D86 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Economics of Contract Law
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General
    • H61 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Budget; Budget Systems
    • H62 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Deficit; Surplus
    • H63 - Public Economics - - National Budget, Deficit, and Debt - - - Debt; Debt Management; Sovereign Debt

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:pubcho:v:183:y:2020:i:3:d:10.1007_s11127-020-00806-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.