Market access remains a major impediment for expansion of global trade in high-value foods, particularly processed foods. Countries use tariffs and other measures that effectively stimulate imports of relatively unprocessed agricultural commodities at the expense of processed products. Tariff...

Agri-environmental policy is at a crossroads. Over the past 20 years, a wide range of policies addressing the environmental implications of agricultural production have been implemented at the Federal level. Those policies have played an important role in reducing soil erosion, protecting and...

Empirical evidence supports the proposition that national income growth is strongly affected by trade specialization and comparative advantage in eight economic sectors. Commercial policy distortions and factor intensity reversals explain why trade does not always fit the skilled labor continuum...

Farmer bankruptcies, bankruptcy rates, and related issues are explored from the beginning of modern bankruptcy legislation over a century ago. Farmer bankruptcies historically have been controversial because they are thought to indicate changes in the economic well-being and structure of the...

The Federal Medicare program provides subsidized health insurance for one in every seven Americans. Medicare covers a higher proportion of rural than urban residents because rural residents are more likely to be elderly or disabled persons entitled to benefits. The rapid growth of Medicare...

The number of farms and other estates that must pay Federal estate taxes has increased in recent years. Concerns about this increase and its effect on farms and other small businesses have generated a number of proposals to change Federal estate tax laws. Some proposals would affect only farms...