My first acquaintance with Jim Buchanan was through reading Cost and Choice in around 1974. I had seen the book referenced in a paper on the economic calculation debate that I was assigned to discuss at a SEA session that year. Since I knew next to nothing about the debate, I went and read all the works referenced in the article so I would have some ability to judge the paper. I have been forever grateful that I took my assignment so seriously at the time, because my work led me to study an issue that was to influence my entire subsequent career. And one of the most important influences dating from that time, was the work of Jim Buchanan.