The Journal of Libertarian Studies

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Constitutional Economics and The Calculus of Consent

The Journal of Libertarian Studies

Tags U.S. HistoryCalculation and KnowledgePolitical TheoryPrivate Property

07/30/2014Walter BlockThomas J. DiLorenzo

James Buchanan and Gordon Tullock are widely credited with creating the Public Choice School. Its main elements include constitutional political economy, an analysis of different voting-rights regimes, and the insight that human beings do not suddenly sprout angel’s wings when they become government bureaucrats (hence, there is government failure as well as market failure). The latter is devoted to an investigation of the premises upon which a legitimate government is predicated, and to an understanding of human and property rights in a constitutional democratic order. In this paper, public choice constitutional economics shall be subjected to critique.

Volume 15, Number 3 (2001)

Authors:

Contact Walter Block

Walter Block is the Harold E. Wirth Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Economics at Loyola University, senior fellow of the Mises Institute, and regular columnist for LewRockwell.com.

Click here to see an extensive online compendium of Dr. Block's publications.

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Contact Thomas J. DiLorenzo

Thomas DiLorenzo is president of the Mises Institute. He is a former professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland and a longtime member of the senior faculty of the Mises Institute. He is the author or co-author of eighteen books including The Real Lincoln; How Capitalism Saved America; Lincoln Unmasked; Hamilton's Curse; Organized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About Government; The Problem with Socialism; and The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Economics

Cite This Article

Block, Walter., and Thomas J. DiLorenzo. "Constitutional Economics and The Calculus of Consent." Journal of Libertarian Studies 15, No. 3 (2001): 37–56.