James M. Buchanan

James McGill Buchanan Jr. was an American economist known for his work on public choice theory originally outlined in his most famous work, The Calculus of Consent, co-authored with Gordon Tullock in 1962. He continued to develop the theory, eventually receiving the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1986. Buchanan's work initiated research on how politicians' and bureaucrats' self-interest, utility maximization, and other non-wealth-maximizing considerations affect their decision-making. He was a member of the Board of Advisors of The Independent Institute as well as of the Institute of Economic Affairs, a member of the Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) and MPS president from 1984 to 1986, a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Cato Institute, and professor at George Mason University.

3 October 1919

Born on the same birth day (3 October): Alanna Ubach • Aleksandr Rogozhkin • Bruno Gervais • Charles Wood, 2nd Earl of Halifax • Chen Yanyin • Chris Marquette • Dennis Eckersley • Eleonora Duse • Erik Bruhn • Frank Stephenson • Gerardo P. Cabochan • Jean Grémillon • Jenny McLoughlin • Jimmy Ray • Johnny Burke (lyricist) • Moshe Kam • Nicolás Avellaneda • Pierre Deligne • Pyotr Kozlov • Saint Casimir • Sheldon Brookbank • Simon Scarrow • Tekin Arıburun • Tetsuya (musician) • Thomas Wolfe

Born in the same month (October 1919): Anita O'Day • Daphne Oxenford • Douglas Albert Munro • Gerry Gomez • Gilles Beaudoin • Isaak Khalatnikov • Majrooh Sultanpuri • Raoul Rémy • Tommy Lawton • Tracy Hall • Violet Milstead • Willard Estey