Since I have been directly quoted
in the recently publicized economics
department affair presumably
on the basis of notes
made in conversation, I feel that
two minor inaccuracies in reported
statements attributed to me should
be corrected.
In his story that appeared in
The Cavalier Daily on 14 February
Mr. MacDonald quotes me as saying
that "after the third refusal
(of the Tullock promotion recommendation)
I tried to see Mr.
Hereford but got nowhere." This
is inaccurate; I was in London
at the time and could not have
made the attempt suggested. Mr.
MacDonald was, I think, referring
to my statement that, before the
third year's promotion recommendation
was acted upon I had tried,
through the offices of Mr. Hereford,
to forestall what I thought
would be the predictable outcome.
A more serious inaccuracy appears
in the editorial statement
attributed to Mr. Lassiter. There
it is stated that "According to
Professor Buchanan, the economics
department has not been represented
on the Promotions Committee
during his ten years at the
University." I should like to make
it crystal clear that any charges
of underrepresentation on the promotions
committee refer only to
the five years of Mr. Harris' term
as Dean and to the one-year term
of Mr. Egger as Acting Dean.
The economics faculty was fully
represented on appropriate committees
during the term of Mr.
William L. Duren as Dean. In
fact, I felt personally that the departmental
faculty was genuinely
a "part of the university" during
Mr. Duren's regime. I have not
felt so since that time.
I realize that in transcribing
notes made from short interviews,
full accuracy is not to be expected.
For purposes of the record, however,
I should like for these two
points to be clarified.
James M. Buchanan
Paul G. McIntire Professor of
Economics
