I was indeed converted by Frank Knight, but he almost single-mindedly conveyed the message that there exists no god whose pronouncements deserve elevation to the sacrosanct, be this god within or without the scientific academy. Everything, everyone, anywhere, anytime—all is open to challenge and criticism. There is a moral obligation to reach one’s own conclusions, even if this sometimes means exposing the prophet whom you have elevated to intellectual guruship.

—James M. Buchanan. Economics from the Outside. Ch. 5,
Texas A&M Press 2007

Buchanan at Nobel Ceremony
Unofficial Website for the James Buchanan Memorial Conference Papers
(Link to official site)
Saturday Session Authors
Saturday Session Papers
Richard E. Wagner
James Buchanan's Public Debt Theory: A Rational Reconstruction
Todd Sandler
Buchanan Clubs


Roger D. Congleton
The Contractarian Constitutional Political Economy of James Buchanan
Lars P. Feld
Buchanan and Federalism
Robert D. Cooter
On the Tension Between the Calculus and Limits of Liberty


Alan P. Hamlin
Reasoning About Rules
Gebhard Kirschgassner
Buchanan and Homo Economicus
Charles R. Plott
Rules and Experiments


James D. Gwartney and Randall G. Holcombe
The Economic Constitution
Yong Yoon
The Anti-Commons


Russell Hardin
James Buchanan on Constitutionalism: We Begin from Here
Viktor J. Vanberg
Buchanan and Contemporary Liberalism


Sunday Morning Plenary Session



Dennis Mueller
Constraining Leviathan
Geoffrey Brennan
The Reason Behind the Reason of Rules
Peter J. Boettke
What Should Classical Liberal Political Economists Do?


Luncheon Talk



James Miller II
Observations on Buchanan and Economic Policy


Sunday Afternoon Memorial Sessions



Richard Wagner
JMB's Gift to Me: Lifetime Learning after a Rough Start
Charles Goetz
How JMB Moved To VPI: Thanks To An Unlikely “Party”
Domenico Da Empoli
Buchanan in Italy
Randall Holcombe
Professor Buchanan
Hartmut Kliemt
How I Came to Know James Buchanan
Freidrich Schneider
Buchanan and European Constitutional Political Economy


Karen Vaughn
The Move to Fairfax
Alex Taborok
Buchanan as Entrepreneur
Fabio Padovano
Assisting Professor Buchanan
Roger Congleton
Buchanan as Mentor
Peter Bernholz
Buchanan as Friend
Geoffrey Brennan
Bye Bye Blacksburg


Other Memories and Reflections



Robert Tollison
In Memory of James M. Buchanan
Gordon Tullock
A Short Tribute to Buchanan


Photo of Speakers at end of day one (LEvy)