Regulation and the revolution in United States farm productivity
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Regulation and the revolution in United States farm productivity
（Studies in economic history and policy : the United States in the twentieth century）
Cambridge University Press, 1994
- : hc
Available at / 21 libraries
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University Library for Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo図
: hbk612.53:C765019560639
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Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Since the 1930s when the government began active regulation, US agriculture has undergone a revolution in productivity. Sally Clarke explains how government activity, from support for research to price supports and farm credit programs, created a climate favorable to rapid gains in productivity. Farmers in the Corn Belt delayed purchases of the tractor, the most important agricultural technology, despite the cost savings it promised. Tractor purchases required large sums of cash at a time when families faced unstable prices and unattractive credit markets. The New Deal inadvertently changed this investment climate. Regulation stabilized prices, introduced new sources of credit, and caused tool manufacturers and private creditors to revise their business strategies. Competitive farmers took advantage of these new conditions to invest in expensive technology and achieve new gains in productivity.
Table of Contents
- Part I. Regulation and Productivity: 1. Introduction
- 2. Agriculture and the organization of knowledge in the early twentieth century
- 3. Accounting for the slow rate of productivity growth
- Part II. 'Power Farming' in the Corn Belt, 1920-40: 4. The tractor factor
- 5. Depressed markets and market regulation
- 6. 'If you'll need a tractor in 1936 you ought to order it now'
- Part III. A Legacy for New Deal Regulation: 7. Regulation, competition, and the revolution in farm productivity
- 8. Conclusion
- Epilogue: The credit crisis of the 1980s
- Appendix A. The tractor's threshold, 1929
- Appendix B. The tractor's threshold, 1939
- Appendix C. Sources of preharvest and harvest labor productivity, 1929-39.
by "Nielsen BookData"