Trouble is, Chris, there is probably nothing so controlled by governments as the farm economy. Subsidies and protection are incomprehensibly heavy in this area.
That's the problem. The farm economy should return to the free market. Harry ********************************* Henry George School of Los Angeles Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 818 352-4141 ********************************* -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Christoph Reuss Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2006 2:31 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Futurework] The farmers still aren't jolly! Ed Weick mentioned > a recent NFU study (The Farm Crisis and Corporate Profits - see www.nfu.ca) Interesting quote from that study: <<<<< Many economists dead wrong about farm crisis To some economists, what we call the farm crisis is just the normal evolution of the sector -- better technology leads to larger and more efficient, but fewer, farms. In this view, the expulsion of farmers is unavoidable short-term pain leading to long-term gain. This view might be defensible if the restructuring led to prosperity for the large, high-tech farmers who remain. But it does not. Figure 1 shows that net farm incomes for the past 20 years have been far below "normal" levels -- essentially zero. Economists' "evolution of the sector" assessment fails to predict or explain the massive shift in profitability from farmers to agribusiness. This shift in profitability begs explanation because it came at a time of rapid farm expansion, efficiency gains, and technology adoption. Economists should ponder whether getting bigger and purchasing more technology will move farmers out of the crisis, or deeper in. >>>>> Any comments from the economists aboard ? Chris _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
