The Economics of American Agriculture: Evolution and Global Development: Evolution and Global Development

ISBN-13: 9780765622280 / Angielski / Twarda / 2008 / 488 str.

Steven C. Blank

Opis

This book answers the questions: What is happening to American agriculture, and why? Steven C. Blank uses portfolio theory to analyze both macro- and microeconomic data that paints a clear picture of the trends in agriculture, and explains why these trends are consistent with market evolution and global economic development. He clarifies agriculture's specific role in economic development with a focus on the current and future globalizing commodity markets.The book features empirical research that demonstrates the link between farm-level investment decisions and regional and national economic trends. It shows how the dynamic environment of industrialization and globalization of agriculture is part of a continuing development that is driven by technological innovation. This all points to a future with a very different agricultural production sector and some extremely important policy choices that will face the entire country.

Spis treści

I: American Agriculture and Globalization; 1: Is American Agriculture Shrinking?; 2: American Agriculture's Life Cycle; 3: Profit Patterns Across American Agriculture; 4: Agricultural Profits and Farm Household Wealth; II: The Economics of Agriculture and Global Development; 5: The Economic Food Chain of Global Development; 6: Commodities and the Profit Squeeze; 7: Technology as Catalyst and Treadmill; 8: Economic Development and the Irony of American Agriculture's Technical Progress; III: Global Agriculture's Effect on Market Evolution; 9: Farmland Values and Uses as Indicators of National Wealth; 10: International Mutual Dependence; IV: American Production Agriculture's Response; 11: Producers as Investors and Portfolio Managers; 12: Measuring Risk for Decision Making; 13: Portfolio Decision Making of Farmland Owners and Tenants; 14: Is The Market Failing Producers Who Wish to Manage Risks?; 15: Hedging With Off-Farm Income; 16: Commodity Market Evolution; 17: Regional Agriculture as a National Industry; V: American Agricultural Policy Questions; 18: The Role of American Agribusiness; 19: Is Agriculture a “Way of Life”or a Business?; 20: The Role of American Agricultural Policy

O autorze

Steven C. Blank