This book provides the foundation needed to understand, interpret, and analyze farm policy. It rests on the proposition that farm policy can be studied properly only when it is placed within its social, economic, and political setting.
1. Farm Characteristics and Problems 2. Public Welfare and Economic Science 3. Values, Beliefs, and Politics 4. Explaining Alleged Chronic Low Returns 5. Farm Problems: Instability 6. Macroeconomic Linkages 7. Foreign Trade and Aid in American Farm Products 8. Agribusiness Conduct, Structure, and Performance 9. Environmental and Natural Resources 10. Poverty, Human Resources, and Rural Development 11. Commodity Programs: A Short History 12. Commodity Programs: Analysis and Alternatives
