A few numbers show the magnitude of this historic change. As recently as 1950, there were 10 million people working on farms in the United States, repre- senting 17 percent of the labor force. In 1998, fewer than 3 million people worked on farms, or 2 percent of the labor force. This change coincided with tremendous advances in farm productivity: Despite the 70 percent drop in the number of farm- ers, U.S. farms produced more than twice the output of crops and livestock in 1998 as they did in 1950.
This analysis of the market for farm products also helps to explain a seeming paradox of public policy: Certain farm programs try to help farmers by inducing them not to plant crops on all of their land. Why do these programs do this? Their purpose is to reduce the supply of farm products and thereby raise prices. With in- elastic demand for their products, farmers as a group receive greater total revenue if they supply a smaller crop to the market. No single farmer would choose to leave his land fallow on his own because each takes the market price as given. But if all farmers do so together, each of them can be better off.
A few numbers show the magnitude of this historic change. As recently as 1950, there were 10 million people working on farms in the United States, repre- senting 17 percent of the labor force. In 1998, fewer than 3 million people worked on farms, or 2 percent of the labor force. This change coincided with tremendous advances in farm productivity: Despite the 70 percent drop in the number of farm- ers, U.S. farms produced more than twice the output of crops and livestock in 1998 as they did in 1950.
This analysis of the market for farm products also helps to explain a seeming paradox of public policy: Certain farm programs try to help farmers by inducing them not to plant crops on all of their land. Why do these programs do this? Their purpose is to reduce the supply of farm products and thereby raise prices. With in- elastic demand for their products, farmers as a group receive greater total revenue if they supply a smaller crop to the market. No single farmer would choose to leave his land fallow on his own because each takes the market price as given. But if all farmers do so together, each of them can be better off.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
