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James M. Buchanan on “the relatively absolute absolutes” and “truth judgments” in politics by Peter J. Boettke; M. Scott King is a Economics, Econometrics and Finance article available to read on EtoBox.

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Perhaps the most important element of James Buchanan's contribution to constitutional economics is his differentiation between pre-and post-constitutional levels of decisionmaking. At first glance, a tension may appear between those two levels of analysis. In one, the rules by which we live are up for debate, allowing us to exercise our creative and imaginative capabilities in constitutional construction. In the other, the rules are viewed as fixed, and we are left simply to treat them as constraints. This paper explores three key elements of Buchanan's thought that allow him to navigate successfully between the two levels. The first is the importance of "the relatively absolute absolute", a concept learned from his mentor, Frank Knight. The second is Buchanan's approach to "truth judgments" in politics, and their status in our political discussions. Third, we draw on Buchanan's insights in his 1959 paper "Positive Economics, Welfare Economics, and Political Economy" to show how political economists should participate in this decision-making process-not as expert philosopher-kings, but as co-equals with their fellow citizens. Finally, we illustrate Buchanan's system of thought in a

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Author

Peter J. Boettke; M. Scott King

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Published

2021

Language

EN

Field

Economics, Econometrics and Finance (Social Sciences)