18 Facts About Gordon Tullock

Gordon Tullock was an American economist and professor of law and economics at the George Mason University School of Law.

Gordon Tullock is best known for his work on public choice theory, the application of economic thinking to political issues.

Gordon Tullock was one of the founding figures in his field.

Gordon Tullock attended the University of Chicago where, after a break for military service during World War II, he received a JD in 1947.

Gordon Tullock later completed Chinese language instruction at Yale and Cornell universities.

Gordon Tullock later joined Buchanan as a faculty colleague at Virginia.

In 1967, Gordon Tullock identified many of the concepts of what came to be known as rent-seeking in a seminal paper.

Gordon Tullock moved to Virginia Polytechnical Institute in 1968 and was joined by Buchanan a year later.

At VPI, Gordon Tullock wrote a number of influential articles and books, including Private Wants, Public Means, The Logic of the Law, The Social Dilemma, and The Vote Motive.

Gordon Tullock taught at GMU from 1983 to 1987 and at the University of Arizona from 1987 to 1999.

Gordon Tullock continued to publish widely, including "The Economics of Wealth and Poverty", Autocracy, Rent Seeking, The Economics of Non-Human Societies and On Voting: A Public Choice Approach.

Gordon Tullock developed a theory referred to as rent-seeking, adapted from the term and concept introduced by economist David Ricardo in the 19th century.

Gordon Tullock formulated and considered the Gordon Tullock paradox, namely, the paradox of why rent-seeking is so cheap.

The name "Gordon Tullock's spike" refers to a thought experiment in which Gordon Tullock suggested that if governments were serious about reducing road casualties, they should mandate that a sharp spike be installed in the center of each car's steering wheel, to increase the probability that an accident would be fatal to the driver.

Gordon Tullock's idea was that the normal process of risk compensation would then lead to safer driving by the affected drivers, thereby actually reducing driving fatalities.

Gordon Tullock served as President of the Southern Economic Association, the International Atlantic Economic Society, the Western Economic Association, The Association For Private Enterprise Education and the Public Choice Society.

Gordon Tullock was sometimes considered a longshot candidate for the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

On November 3,2014, Gordon Tullock died at the age of 92 in Des Moines.