James M. Buchanan Outside the Classroom: A Former Student’s Perspective

Abstract

There is a quaint expression that runs something like, “don’t let college interfere with your education.” I can say that, at least in my case, there was much truth to this saying. For the most part, I remember little of my undergraduate education in economics at Virginia Tech, completed in March 1978. Allan Mandelstamm pricked my interest in economics with his microeconomic principles course, taken early in my sophomore year. But my love affair with economics as a science was initiated by my contact with two professors during my senior year: Barney Lentz and Bob Tollison. Barney, who later became my longtime professional collaborator, taught a superb course in labor economics. Bob, who subsequently became my mentor in graduate school and the early part of my academic career, as well as an occasional research partner, introduced me to rent seeking and the Leviathan State in the context of a fascinating course on Mercantilism.