Nobel laureate economist James Buchanan was fond of telling students that after completing his dissertation, he stumbled upon Knut Wicksell’s 1896 book on public goods, taxation, and the political processa serendipitous discovery that altered Buchanan’s thinking and the course of public choice economics. Some scholars question the veracity of Buchanan’s anecdote, but a comparison of his multiple accounts of the story provides some corroboration and sheds light on the early development of public choice.
Buchanans Accounts of the Serendipitous Discovery of Wicksell
A Case of Just What Was He Thinking? or . . .
By Michael Brooks
This
article
appeared in
the Spring 2018 issue of The Independent Review.
Other Independent Review articles by Michael Brooks | |
Spring 2003 | A Free Market in Kidneys Would Be Efficient and Equitable: A Case of Too Much Romance |