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Public Policy for Agriculture after Commodity Programs
Author(s) -
Tweeten Luther,
Zalauf Carl
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
applied economic perspectives and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.4
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2040-5804
pISSN - 2040-5790
DOI - 10.2307/1349741
Subject(s) - commodity , agriculture , public policy , business , economics , agricultural economics , public economics , economic growth , finance , geography , archaeology
The Federal Agricultural Improvement and Reform (FAIR) Act of 1996 opted for the market instead of the government to allocate resources and set returns in agriculture. Decoupled transition payments will continue to year 2002, after which they may be discontinued. A modest safety net of marketing loans and crop insurance may remain after 2002, but the era of government supply management of primary crops appears to be over. In this paper, our objective is to consider appropriate public policy for U.S. agriculture without price‐related subsidies and attendant managed supplies. The discussion is suggestive, not exhaustive, and is intended to stimulate thinking on how postcommodity program policy might better serve the needs of agriculture and the public at large.