Washington Metro Objectivism Discussion (WMOD)

		      January 1997 Meeting

	"The Virginia School of Political Economy:
		   Some Autobiographical Notes"

	by Nobel Laureate Dr James Buchanan
	
The January WMOD meeting will take advantage of a public lecture in
Fairfax, VA, on Wednesday, January 15 where Dr Buchanan is the featured
speaker.  This lecture is part of The Old Town Hall Lecture Series, and it is
free of charge and open to the public.

James M. Buchanan in his memoirs, "Better than Plowing and Other Personal
Essays" (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992), dates the birth of
Virginia Political Economy to a casual conversation he had with a fellow
graduate student, Warren Nutter, in the foyer of the Social Sciences
Building at the University of Chicago early in 1948 and its actuation to
early 1957 when, just after they had simultaneously joined the economics
faculty at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and with
enthusiastic support from William Duren, then dean of the faculty, they
established the Thomas Jefferson Center for Studies in Political Economy
and Social Philosophy.  They sought to reinstate economics as an essential
component element in a comprehensive moral philosophy and it is this
approach -- based on an understanding of the market order and,
particularly, an appreciation of the market's political function, which is
to minimize the need for politicized control over and decisions concerning
resource use -- that has informed Buchanan's work in public choice -- the
economic analysis of politics -- and constitutional economics.

Buchanan is the Holbert L. Harris University Professor and the Advisory
General Director of the Center for Study of Public Choice at George
Mason University.  In addition to earning the Nobel Memorial Prize in
Economic Sciences in 1986, he is recognized as the theoretical inspiration
for much of the Reagan era's economic philosophy, the father of public
choice theory, and a powerful exponent of libertarian ideals.  Bluntly honest
and always engaging, Buchanan is one of our most gifted and insightful
thinkers.  His numerous books and articles include "Cost and Choice",
and the "Limits of Liberty", and an autobiography entitled "Better Than
Plowing".  James Buchanan received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.

		 When and Where is the Talk?

The lecture "The Virginia School of Political Economy: Some Autobiographical
Notes" will be held on Wednesday, January 15, at 7:30 pm, in the Old Town 
Hall, (Second Floor, at the corner of University Drive and Main Street in Old 
Town Fairfax, VA).  A reception will follow the talk.  It is sponsored by the
City/University/Business Committee (CUB).  For more information on this free
public lecture, call CUB at 703/993-8846.  Although WMOD recommends
this lecture to its members, WMOD is not affiliated with CUB.  There will be
no WMOD dinner at the Fortune restaurant this month.  If you need a ride to
the talk, we may be able to give you a ride to and from the Balston Metro
Station.  Call WMOD at 703/820-7696 for arrangements ASAP.

			December WMOD Meeting

Thanks to Keith Lynch for his interesting talk about "Cryonics" on December
21, 1996.  There were about 20 attendees, and as usual, the discussion raged
on until the restaurant staff asked us to leave so they could close up. 

		     Rand Entry in Literary Biographies

Thanks to Chris Sciabarra for his excellent entry for Ayn Rand in 
"AMERICAN WRITERS: A Collection of Literary Biographies"
Supplement IV, Part 2, Susan Howe to Gore Vidal.  Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1996, ISBN 0-684-19787-1.  These 17 pages
are so objective and comprehensive that it would be nice to see
them published separately as a pamphlet.

		  WMOD Contact Information

The WMOD newsletter is $10/yr,  the email newsletter is free.
Contact: Dave Saum
WMOD
PO Box 8007
Falls Church, VA 22041
Email: DSaum at infiltec.com
Phone: 703/820-7696, FAX: 703/671-9350
Web: http//www.infiltec.com/wmod.htm

----------- "Sapere aude" (dare to know) -------------------