Prof. James M. Buchanan Is the 2010 Recipient of FSSO’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Professor Emeritus of Economics at George Mason University and Nobel Laureate James M. Buchanan received the Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders’ Lifetime Achievement Award at George Mason University on September 9^th, 2010.   The event was co-hosted by Fund for the Study of Spontaneous Orders at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, Liberty Fund, George Mason University’s Economics Department, and the Mercatus Center.   A panel discussion featuring the works of Dr. Buchanan was presented by two other Nobel laureates:  Dr. Amartya K. Sen, 1998 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences, and Dr. Elinor Ostrom, 2009 Nobel Prize winner in Economic Sciences. Dean Emeritus of the GMU Law School, Henry Manne, served as moderator.

Dr. Buchanan is an active proponent of sound money.  In this short article, “The Constitutionalization of Money,” he argues that constitutionalization of money is the only viable option towards reforming our monetary regime.  By constitutionalization, he is referring to requiring that “the value of the monetary unit be made one of the rules of the game, within which economic interaction takes place, rather than being used as a counter in the strategy of play within the rules.  In Hayekian parlance, the value of money must be part of the ‘higher law,’ as opposed to ordinary legislation that takes place within such law.”   To read the entire article, click here.