The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies

The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies PDF Author: Johan Swinnen
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137501022
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
Food and agriculture have been subject to heavy-handed government interventions throughout much of history and across the globe, both in developing and in developed countries. Today, more than half a trillion US dollars are spent by some governments to support farmers, while other governments impose regulations and taxes that hurt farmers. Some policies, such as price regulations and tariffs, distribute income but reduce total welfare by introducing economic distortions. Other policies, such as public investments in research, food standards, or land reforms, may increase total welfare, but these policies come also with distributional effects. These distributional effects influence the preferences of interest groups and in turn influence policy decisions. Political considerations are therefore crucial to understand how agricultural and food policies are determined, to identify the constraints within which welfare-enhancing reforms are possible (or not), and finally to understand how coalitions can be created to stimulate growth and reduce poverty.

The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies

The Political Economy of Agricultural and Food Policies PDF Author: Johan Swinnen
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1137501022
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Get Book Here

Book Description
Food and agriculture have been subject to heavy-handed government interventions throughout much of history and across the globe, both in developing and in developed countries. Today, more than half a trillion US dollars are spent by some governments to support farmers, while other governments impose regulations and taxes that hurt farmers. Some policies, such as price regulations and tariffs, distribute income but reduce total welfare by introducing economic distortions. Other policies, such as public investments in research, food standards, or land reforms, may increase total welfare, but these policies come also with distributional effects. These distributional effects influence the preferences of interest groups and in turn influence policy decisions. Political considerations are therefore crucial to understand how agricultural and food policies are determined, to identify the constraints within which welfare-enhancing reforms are possible (or not), and finally to understand how coalitions can be created to stimulate growth and reduce poverty.

The Political Economy of US Agriculture

The Political Economy of US Agriculture PDF Author: Jonathan C. Brooks
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural laws and legislation
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Get Book Here

Book Description


Plowing Ground in Washington

Plowing Ground in Washington PDF Author: B. Delworth Gardner
Publisher: Pacific Research Institute
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 408

Get Book Here

Book Description
In Plowing Ground in Washington B. Delworth Gardner explores the wasteful and perverse consequences of our current agricultural policy. Farm subsidies reduce our standard of living and redistribute income from taxpayers and consumers to farmers and landowners who are typically richer than average Americans. In effect, we pay twice: first in taxes to provide subsidies, and then at the grocery store in the form of higher prices due to the distortion subsidies cause in the marketplace. Moreover, farm subsidies have serious environmental consequences that are often forgotten in the debate about farm policy. Gardner's reasoned argument for government reform in the agricultural sector is both powerful and compelling.

The Agrarian Seeds of Empire

The Agrarian Seeds of Empire PDF Author: Brad Bauerly
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004314148
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 322

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Agrarian Seeds of Empire outlines the influence of agrarian movements on the process of US institutional capacity building between 1840- 1980. Out of the mix of the developing new Nation and the expanding capitalist system emerged strong farmer’s movements that produced state building processes central to American political development. It will show how the forces of state building and social movements converged to produce agro-industrialization. This agro-industrial developmental project was instrumental in both the development of the industrial food system and US Empire as the institutional capacities were later used to impose the same project outside of the US. These findings link together and augment existing approaches to capitalist development, International Relations, and theories of the state and the food system.

Plowshares & Pork Barrels

Plowshares & Pork Barrels PDF Author: E.C. Pasour, Jr.
Publisher: Independent Institute
ISBN: 1598131931
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 410

Get Book Here

Book Description
Agricultural subsidies in grains, cotton, milk, sugar, tobacco, honey, wool, and peanuts are analyzed in this examination of U.S. farm policy. Looking at such programs as food stamps, crop insurance, subsidized credit, trade credit, trade subsidies and import restrictions, conservation, agricultural research, and taxation, this historical perspective argues that these subsidies ultimately redistribute wealth to powerful agricultural interests who use their political clout to advance their economic interests at the expense of the general public. This analysis of government farm programs will appeal to professors and students who study agriculture; people affected by government farm policies; public officials, and businesses affected by agricultural policy such as those in food service, retail, and distribution.

The Political Economy of Mechanization in U.S. Agriculture

The Political Economy of Mechanization in U.S. Agriculture PDF Author: Barry L. Price
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Agricultural innovations
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description


The Political Economy Of Agricultural Trade And Policy

The Political Economy Of Agricultural Trade And Policy PDF Author: Hans J Michelmann
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000232549
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 242

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book presents a descriptive analysis of the political economy of the European Community, the U.S. and Canada. It describes the structural changes and the crises in agriculture and focuses on impact of GATT on agricultural policy and trade in the post-Second World War era.

Plowshares and Pork Barrels

Plowshares and Pork Barrels PDF Author: E. C. Pasour
Publisher: Independent Studies in Politic
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Get Book Here

Book Description
Agricultural subsidies in grains, cotton, milk, sugar, tobacco, honey, wool, and peanuts are analyzed in this examination of U.S. farm policy. Looking at such programs as food stamps, crop insurance, subsidized credit, trade credit, trade subsidies and import restrictions, conservation, agricultural research, and taxation, this historical perspective argues that these subsidies ultimately redistribute wealth to powerful agricultural interests who use their political clout to advance their economic interests at the expense of the general public. This analysis of government farm programs will appeal to professors and students who study agriculture; people affected by government farm policies; public officials, and businesses affected by agricultural policy such as those in food service, retail, and distribution.

Towards A New Political Economy Of Agriculture

Towards A New Political Economy Of Agriculture PDF Author: William H Friedland
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000009459
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 357

Get Book Here

Book Description
The emergence of a truly global economy in the 1970s and the need to understand the subsequent changes in economic structure provided the impetus for this synthesis of the sociology of agriculture. The book offers the first formulations of a political economy theory that explains the transnational social and production relations of food and agriculture. Drawing upon studies of labour, technology, the state and gender, the contributors put forward a basis for reassessing and restating the intellectual framework of agriculture.

The Political Economy Of Mechanization In U.s. Agriculture

The Political Economy Of Mechanization In U.s. Agriculture PDF Author: Barry Price
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1000304515
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 144

Get Book Here

Book Description
For more than a decade the trend toward increased mechanization in U.S. agriculture has been the source of farm worker protests, legislative hearings, and lawsuits. (The recent case pitting the University of California’s prestigious agriculture research establishment against Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers is a prominent example of such litigation.) A key question in the controversy is whether federal and state governments should continue to invest more than $1 billion per year in the development of large-scale, capital-intensive technologies known to have significant social costs. Opponents of continued public support for these new technologies argue that they will eliminate thousands of farm jobs when the nation already suffers from a serious unemployment problem; proponents contend that such capital-intensive technologies keep food prices down for consumers while generating the potential for increased wages for farm workers. This book explores both sides of the debate, tracing the history of the mechanization issue and assessing the economic and sociological bases of the opposing positions. Maintaining that present methods of analysis are not adequate for resolving the conflict, Professor Price suggests an alternative approach, highlighted by a detailed case study of the costs and benefits generated by a new harvest technology adopted in the tomato-processing industry in California. He singles out the role of market structure as the most important variable in the distribution of benefits resulting from mechanization. Finally he relates his research findings to policy alternatives concerning farm mechanization in general, as well as to other problems involving technological change.