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Buchanan, Popular Myths, and the Social Responsibility of Economists

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  • Alain Marciano

Abstract

This article presents and discusses “The ‘Politics’ of Economic Policy,” an essay that remains unpublished and that James Buchanan wrote in 1953. In this essay, Buchanan, for the first time, claimed that politicians and bureaucrats are not benevolent despots—it was not an assumption. This helps to understand that Buchanan had abandoned the “romantic” belief that politicians were acting for the interest of the public early in his career, much earlier than usually acknowledged and even earlier than his first works in “nonmarket decision‐making.” Beyond this historical insight, we show that Buchanan wrote his article in response or echo to Knight's “The Rôle of Principles in Economics and Politics” (1951). Comparing Buchanan's and Knight's texts, we show that Buchanan adopted a Knightian perspective while criticizing Knight and departing from his views. Of particular importance is what Buchanan wrote on how economists should frame their policy recommendations and on how they may need to avoid very sophisticated theories.

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  • Alain Marciano, 2020. "Buchanan, Popular Myths, and the Social Responsibility of Economists," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(4), pages 1613-1629, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:soecon:v:86:y:2020:i:4:p:1613-1629
    DOI: 10.1002/soej.12429
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    1. Jean-Baptiste Fleury & Alain Marciano, 2018. "The Sound of Silence: A Review Essay of Nancy MacLean's Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1492-1537, December.
    2. Alain Marciano, 2020. "How Wicksell became important for Buchanan: a historical account of a (relatively) slow epiphany," Post-Print hal-02550191, HAL.
    3. Andrew Farrant, 2019. "What Should (Knightian) Economists Do? James M. Buchanan's 1980 Visit to Chile," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(3), pages 691-714, January.
    4. Boettke, Peter, 2011. "Teaching economics, appreciating spontaneous order, and economics as a public science," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 265-274.
    5. Anthony Downs, 1957. "An Economic Theory of Political Action in a Democracy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 65, pages 135-135.
    6. James M. Buchanan, 1954. "Social Choice, Democracy, and Free Markets," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 62, pages 114-114.
    7. Levy,David M. & Peart,Sandra J., 2017. "Escape from Democracy," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781316507131, January.
    8. Jean-Baptiste Fleury & Alain Marciano, 2018. "The Making of a Constitutionalist: James Buchanan on Education," Post-Print hal-01835036, HAL.
    9. James M. Buchanan, 1952. "Federal Grants and Resource Allocation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60, pages 208-208.
    10. Phillip W. Magness & Art Carden & Vincent Geloso, 2019. "James M. Buchanan and the Political Economy of Desegregation," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(3), pages 715-741, January.
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