A Bumper Crop of Inertia

US farmers of wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton and rice are hooked on government subsidies that began in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Since then, the subsidies have continued, year after year, while political or agriculture industry leaders refuse to admit that changing needs demand new priorities. Rather than saving family farms, creating jobs, encouraging good nutrition habits or assisting impoverished farmers in developing nations, the subsidies have evolved into automatic handouts for a few entitled special-interest groups. Such government programs “start for good cause or with good intentions, then perpetuate themselves by creating a protective web of interests – constituents who believe that they have property rights in benefits, politicians whose power derives from renewing or expanding the benefits, and lobbies that exist to influence crucial politicians,” writes Robert Samuelson for the Washington Post. Some farmers urge extending subsidies for bio-fuel crops, but evidence suggests the crops won’t do much to replace fossil fuels. Subsidies and other protectionist measures lacking in purpose and goals concentrate profits in the hands of a few and discourage innovation. – YaleGlobal