Don't hate the player, hate the game

THIS week's Free exchange column is a remembrance of Nobel Prize winning economist James Buchanan, who died on January 9th. Mr Buchanan was one of the critical thinkers behind public choice economics: the application of economic analysis to matters of political decision-making.His interest in the workings of the state reflected its growing importance. From having only a minimal role in pre-industrial days, Leviathan came to control swathes of economic activity as the 20th century progressed. National-security demands were partly responsible. Government responses to market failures, from unscrupulous business practices to the trauma of the Depression, also played their part. As demands on the state grew, so too did the need to understand its behaviour.Mr Buchanan was one of a small group of economists wondering whether the state was up to the task. Untrammelled markets may fail—by produ...