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Agricultural Economists and the State

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  • E. C. Pasour, Jr.

Abstract

Agricultural economists, going back to the Roosevelt New Deal era, have a long legacy of supporting government intervention in the farm sector. Although policy economists have increased criticism of farm programs since World War II—particularly price support programs—there remains a substantial amount of support for government intervention in U.S. agriculture. The role of the USDA in funding policy research in agriculture tends to influence both the views of policy economists and the extent to which they express judgment in favor of liberalization of farm policies. Government farm programs provide work opportunities so that USDA-funded policy analysts have an incentive not to question the economic legitimacy of programs analyzed. State and local farm commodity interests also exert pressure on policy analysts who propose policy liberalization. In short, many policy economists today are critical of farm commodity programs but a vocal minority defends them. Even free-market agricultural policy economists, touting “positive science,†often fail to express judgment when analyzing farm commodity programs. Moreover, in analyzing “market failure†as a basis for conservation and other non-commodity farm programs, agricultural policy economists frequently implicitly support intervention by ignoring problems of “government failure.â€

Suggested Citation

  • E. C. Pasour, Jr., 2004. "Agricultural Economists and the State," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 1(1), pages 106-133, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:ejw:journl:v:1:y:2004:i:1:p:106-133
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Henrik Lindberg, 2007. "The Role of Economists in Liberalizing Swedish Agriculture," Econ Journal Watch, Econ Journal Watch, vol. 4(2), pages 213-229, May.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    agricultural policy; policy economists; policy analysis; economic liberalization; research funding; government intervention.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q10 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - General
    • Q18 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Policy; Food Policy; Animal Welfare Policy
    • A11 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Role of Economics; Role of Economists
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government

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