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THE DISAPPEARING AMERICAN FARM by Jake Goldberg

THE DISAPPEARING AMERICAN FARM

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Pub Date: April 1st, 1996
Publisher: Watts

This book begins strongly, with a good history of farming in the US, but soon moves into a confusing discussion of the farm ""problem""--farmers continue to outproduce the needs of the country, causing the federal government to step in with subsidies that now comprise the third largest entitlement program after Social Security and Medicare. The farm problem is a social and economic one, but Goldberg does little to clarify the issues. He appears not to understand fully some of the terms he uses, e.g., the definition of nonrecourse loan misses the mark. Midway through the book, he acknowledges the inadequacy of the presentation: ""Before moving on, the reader deserves a word of encouragement. If you have stayed with the narrative this far, mastering the concepts behind parity ratios, target prices, and market orders, you probably have a better understanding of government agricultural policy than most of your fellow citizens."" Despite the promising topic, most readers will be bored by the less-than-focused discussion of how farming has been transformed into the business it is today.