James McGill Buchanan is an American economist best known for his public choice theory. The founder of a new Virginia school of political economy, he has written extensively on subjects including public finance, macroeconomics, and libertarian theory.

James McGill Buchanan (1919 - 2013) was an American economist best known as a pioneer of public choice theory. A founder of the new Virginia school of political economy, he made extensive contributions to the theory of public finance, constitutional economics, rent-seeking, and the economic analysis of politics. Buchanan's work offered a scientific basis for conservative and libertarian political endeavors such as a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1986.

This pathbreaking collection brings together a selection of work by Nobel Prize winning authors from the archives of the Institute of Economic Affairs. The laureates whose work is featured made an important contribution to economists' understanding of a market economy. Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the editors, the publishers or the authors of these outstanding articles would have predicted quite how widespread and important their influence would be. The editors have chosen works to demonstrate the challenge raised by these authors to the socialist consensus of the time amongst both...