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Logical Foundations of Constitutional Liberty, The (Collected Works of James M. Buchanan)

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This, the first volume of Professor James M. Buchanan's Collected Works series, contains a selection of papers meant to provide an overview of his entire oeuvre, as contained in the other 19 volumes of the series. Professor Buchanan is considered one of the most prominent scientists associated with public choice theory, which is the application of the analytical tools of economic decision making ("private choice") to the arena of political decision making ("public choice"). For his contributions, Professor Buchanan would go on to earn the 1986 Nobel Prize in economics.

The papers selected for this volume do indeed make for a good overview of the rest of the series. They are categorized by topic: public choice theory, taxation and public debt finance, economic inquiry, ethics, and constitutionalism (i.e. "the science of rules", p. 431). Arguably, Buchanan's work on public-goods theory is underrepresented here (papers on it can be found in volume 15 of the series, in addition to the 1968 monograph The Demand and Supply of Public Goods that makes up volume 5 in the series).

Volume 1 contains a foreword by the three editors that serves as an introduction to the entire series. It also contains the press release that explains the Nobel Academy's rationale for awarding Professor Buchanan the Nobel Prize. In addition, there are an autobiographical essay and a section with biographical data. The final paper in the book is Professor Buchanan's Nobel lecture. The editors also provide a table of contents of the entire Collected Works series, in which they arrange the papers from volume 1 topically among the other volumes in the series, as if volume 1 did not exist separately. This is helpful in case a paper in volume 1 sparks an interest in further reading.

A minor point of criticism is that the editors deliberately selected what they call "classic" papers, which means quite a few older ones (Buchanan has been publishing for more than half a century). It might have been more suitable for newcomers to Buchanan if the editors had instead selected more of the later papers, which often contain more fully worked-out expositions of Buchanan's ideas. In addition, the early papers are more pedantic in style, while the more recent ones are more conversational. This change in writing style is by no means characteristic for Buchanan, but has occurred with writing in general. But in any case, inclusion of more recent papers might have made the volume more accessible.

Still, although most of the papers contained here have been written with the density and economy of words that are typical for academic writing, the reader does not really need to possess any particular knowledge of economics to be able to understand most of the ideas contained in them. The more technical papers have been deliberately withheld from this volume and are included in the later volumes instead.

This handsome volume, attractive in paper, typeface, and binding, is the first of twenty volumes of the not-quite-complete writings of James Buchanan (relatively ephemeral pieces will be left out). Apart from this volume and a final one containing an index to the series and a curriculum vitae, the collection gathers Buchanan's work by topics. This introductory volume contains a wide-ranging sample of thirty-one articles on the job and responsibilities of economists, public choice, public finance, constitutionalism, and ethics. The editors have added a fourteen-page foreword and reprinted the 1986 press release of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announcing the award of the Nobel prize to Buchanan...

One quibble may convey a suggestion for future volumes in this series. The editors fail to adjust Buchanan's cross-references. Even when, as often occurs, Buchanan cites another article of his that happens to be reprinted in the current volume, the editors fail to tell the reader that he has the cited work already in his hands.

All in all, though, the project of Buchanan's collected works is off to a magnificent start. Economists will have convenient and pleasant access to enduringly fruitful teachings.