By John Kenneth Galbraith
Industrial corporations and those engaged in technology, entertainment, and most else have control of their production and, in substantial measure, their prices. Those who depend on a farm for their living, however, have no control over production. There are far too many producers providing the same thing, which eliminates any possibility of control of prices. This is the enduring nature of what is called "the farm problem." It was partly solved many years ago by instituting some control over farm production and thus prices--that was the great initial step of Roosevelt and Wallace's Triple A (Agricultural Adjustment Administration). A few years ago, because of ideological motivations, such controls were abandoned. Now we have a new farm problem, especially for small ones, as they are called and celebrated, family farmers. In fact, the problem is not new, and the solution--to go back to what we had before--is not either. It's as simple as that.
John Kenneth Galbraith is the Paul M. Warburg Professor of Economics Emeritus at Harvard University
Sept/Oct. 2000 Country Journal:
