TY - CHAP AB - Abstract In Democracy in Chains, Nancy MacLean draws attention to the influence that James M. Buchanan’s work has had on the political economic discourse of the past half century. Buchanan and his collaborators in the Virginia Political Economy tradition have provided intellectual firepower for efforts to delegitimize democratically sanctioned policies aimed at alleviating the dysfunctional consequences of market activity. While MacLean’s account contains some well-documented inaccuracies, her characterization of Buchanan’s agenda is broadly accurate. This chapter assesses Buchanan’s economics in light of the themes raised by MacLean. His work, we shall argue, is a modern manifestation of what Marx termed “vulgar economy,” that is, ruling-class ideology posing as science. VL - 37B SN - 978-1-78769-862-8, 978-1-78769-861-1/0743-4154 DO - 10.1108/S0743-41542019000037B020 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/S0743-41542019000037B020 AU - Mongiovi Gary PY - 2019 Y1 - 2019/01/01 TI - Poking a Hornets’ Nest: The Debate on Democracy in Chains☆ T2 - Including a Symposium on Ludwig Lachmann T3 - Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 177 EP - 196 Y2 - 2024/05/11 ER -