Economics of Subsidising Agriculture

Gavin McCrone has had a long career in economics and public policy, becoming one of the most influential figures in the Scottish economy. He studied agricultural economics at Aberystwyth University in the 1950s when post-war conditions required many changes in policy, before lecturing in economics at Glasgow and Oxford universities. In 1970, he moved to the Scottish Office in Edinburgh as chief economic advisor to the Secretary of State, later heading up the Industry Department for Scotland and the Scottish Development Department. After retiring from the civil service, he returned to academic economics as a professor, first at Glasgow University and then at Edinburgh University Business School. Among subsequent roles, he was vice-chairman of the Royal Society of Edinburgh's 2003 inquiry into the crisis in the Scottish fishing industry, and in 2010 chaired its inquiry into the future of Scotland's hill areas. In the 2010s, he was author of two books examining the economic challenges that might face an independent Scotland.

• Part 1: The Present Position of British Agriculture 1. Agriculture in the British Economy 2. The Cost of Agricultural Support 3. Agricultural Expansion Since 1939 Part 2: Agriculture and the Balance of Payments 4. An Analysis of the Balance of Payments Problem 5. The Contribution of Agriculture to the Balance of Payments 6. The Effect of Increased Self-Sufficiency on the Terms of Trade Part 3: The Prospects for Imported Food Supplies 7. The Factors Governing International Specialization 8. Long-Run Movements in the Terms of Trade 9. The Growth of the World’s Population 10. The Outlook for European Food Supplies 11. British Agriculture and the Common Market 12. The Threat to Britain’s Food Supply. Appendix: Tables A-C: Population Density of Selected Countries Tables D-F: Food Output in European Countries.