US farm policy in perspective

At the end of 1981 the US Congress passed new farm legislation which was widely hailed as a success for the Reagan administration's efforts to contain the escalation of farm supports, it now appears, however, that it has created serious problems in a situation of rapid agricultural productivity growth in the face of slower growth of domestic and foreign demand. Despite subsequent amendments to limit budget outlays, farm support costs are now estimated at $12 billion each in FY 1982 and 1983 and $7 billion in FY 1984, as compared with original projections of less than $3 billion annually.     

The three US food policies: An ideological interpretation

Historically, and notably so since 1933, three ideologies have been evident, and in conflict, in the farmfood policies of the USA. The gradual transformation of US agriculture since World War II into an agribusiness industry, and into the dominant world food exporter, has necessitated the modernising of these three ideologies. How the new food politics of the Carter Administration will differ from those of the Nixon-Ford Administration is of worldwide concern. Whether the new food policy ‘agenda’ will be aggressively committed to the development of a neo-Jeffersonian food ideology will be a major US political issue in 1977.     

The new need: Nutrition-oriented food policies

Inadequate nutrition results in human and economic waste. In developing societies, substantial deaths are thought to be malnutrition-related, and large proportions of the populations live with the negative effeets that inadequate diet and related illness have on learning, work capacity, behaviour and well-being. ' The nutritional state of the populace both influences and reflects the level and pace of national development.²     

Farm policies and added sugars in US diets

We examine how US farm policies for sweetener crops have affected the consumption and composition of sweeteners in the US diet. R&D expenditures have lowered the unit cost of commodities used in sweeteners, but have generated more technical progress in corn than in sugar crops, increasing use of corn in food production, ceteris paribus. Commodity programs have raised the price of sugar and decreased the price of corn. Thus, high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) became an inexpensive substitute for sugar in food from 1970 on. However, the effect of policy on ingredient prices has become less important over time. Today the farm value share in sweetened food is below 5% and HFCS is a specialized input in many food items, with limited substitution possibilities. The current link between US sweetener consumption and farm policy is weak. Recent evidence from other high-income countries shows little relationship between sweetener consumption and sugar policies.     

美国和加拿大页岩气产业政策借鉴

美国、加拿大政府为鼓励非常规资源开发,出台了一系列页岩气产业扶持政策,其中包括对页岩气勘探、开发实行税收减免及财政补贴;建立专项基金资助研究机构开展技术研发;打造多元化的投资环境,建立市场机制等等。这些举措降低了页岩气开发成本,促进了页岩气产业的快速发展。在鼓励页岩气发展的同时,两国还加强行业监管,出台了严格的环境保护政策,对作业区水资源、渔业资源和野生动物进行保护。本研究在综合分析了美、加两国页岩气产业政策之后,建议我国政府借鉴北美页岩气发展经验,针对页岩气产业出台一定的扶持政策;设立基金扶持项目,通过多领域技术合作,最终形成一套完整的页岩气开发配套技术;同时制定严格的环境保护政策,减少环境污染,保障我国页岩气资源的安全、有效开发。     

Tarnished gold: US farm commodity programmes after 50 years

It is fifty years since the introduction of the US farm commodity programmes launched under the New Deal. Based on the concepts of relief, recovery and reform, the New Deal gave new hope to farmers emerging from the Great Depression. But how successful were these programmes? Don Paarlberg believes they were miscarried, becoming preferential, profligate and perennial. With the recent recession and the introduction of new farm legislation, the author speculates as to whether history will repeat itself.     

Can the small dairy farm remain competitive in US agriculture?

Smaller dairy farms in the US are observed to have higher costs than larger farms, and whether those higher costs are due to technology or inefficiency has implications for policy to address the small farm. If high cost of production on smaller farms is due to a higher cost frontier, then to make small farms competitive would require research to devise and design technology that is suitable for small farms. If instead high cost is due to inefficiency, then educational approaches are needed to ensure small dairy farms use technology efficiently. To determine the cause of higher costs on small farms, the cost of milk production by farm size was decomposed into frontier and efficiency components with a stochastic cost curve using data on USA dairy farms. Although the frontier cost of production decreases with farm size, that cost reduction is not as pronounced as a cost curve that includes inefficiency. The higher cost of production on many smaller farms is caused by inefficiency rather than technology.     

探索主辅分离新路子

按照河北省关于深化国企改革的指导意见和工作思路，邯郸矿业集团公司经过六个多月的攻坚克难，于2004年9月30日成功地将下属三家与主业联系不紧密的辅业单位从“母体”中分离出来，并对其实施了改制，明晰了产权关系，置换了职工身份，有效地盘活了企业的低效存量资产，进一步精干了主体，增强了企业核心竞争力，探索出一条主辅分离、改制搞活的新路子。     

Foreign and domestic US policies: Spectrum reservations and media balance

This article examines the US opposition to a priori planning of the HF and space satellite spectrum, and ‘orbital slots’. This opposition is then contrasted with the rationale of domestic pre-engineered allocation and allotment plans for television and FM radio. The article then contrasts the US animus towards Third World calls for a ‘balanced’ information flow with the longstanding US commitment to fairness, balance, equal access and diversity. The author suggest that the operation of a foreign-domestic double standard could damage US credibility.     

The US communications consumer and FCC policies: The AT & T position on the proposed legislation

Recent FCC decisions constitute a threat to the traditional principles of US telecommunications policy. Having outlined those principles, the author considers the issue of competition, stresses the need for a unified system, and describes the economic effects of a continuation of FCC policies. Division of responsibility, duplication of facilities, and increases in rates for basic telephone service are seen as consequences which will militate against the efficiency and availability of US telecommunications.     

美国研制出Novinex薄膜

美国研制出一种含有防潮层的Novinex多层薄膜。Novinex薄膜是由Topascos做内层,与外层聚丙烯同时压制而成。在性能上与PVDC/聚合物多层薄膜相比,防湿性和透明性更强。由于该材料不含乙烯、卤素和增塑剂,故其安全性和环保优势明显。此外,Novinex在制作过程中是多层同时压制而成,     

WTO negotiations on agriculture and the distributional impacts for US rice farm households

The policies of wealthy countries have proven the most difficult to reform in the WTO Doha Round negotiations. Considerable emphasis has been placed on developing country impacts, but a gap in the literature remains on the stakes for rich country farmers despite the large role these countries play in global agricultural protection. The research here considers the particular case of US rice households and their sensitivity to Japanese market access reform. Using an applied general equilibrium model with multiple farm households we highlight the distributional impacts among these producers. We argue that concessions to Japan on market access make domestic reforms in rice a difficult political sale in the US since the wealthiest producers bear the largest losses. Improving our understanding of the distributional impacts and political realities of the richest countries is critical to informing the negotiating process because the gains to the world’s poor can only be realized with creative policy redress in these rich nations.     

US and EEC agricultural trade policies: A long-run view of the present conflict

This paper traces post-war agricultural policy in the USA and compares it with the developing policies of the EEC. It examines the reasons for, and the results of, the protectionist policies which have been adopted in each case, and how the present conflict between the two trading blocs were inevitable, due to the foundations laid in the 1950s. The grain sector is used to illustrate the dominant tendencies in US agricultural policies, which include a programme of food aid used as an outlet for US agricultural capacity. The conclusion outlines how the EEC, with its potential for further growth in grain exports, can learn from the US experience in this, and other, aspects of agricultural trade.     

美国保点公司推出新型防损防窃标签

在超市经营成为时尚的今天,商品盗损问题越来越使商家感到头疼。为了便于管理,厂家在商品标签上想尽了一切办法。由于传统的防损防窃标签既容易被撕掉,又遮盖了部分商品信息,影响了商品的外观,给商品销售带来很多不便。为此,美国保点公司最近推出了一种无线电射频标签技术,可在     

Bundling communications policy for the new US administration

The USA does not have a coherent framework for communications policy. The author sets out what should be the prime concerns of a communications policy aimed at serving a pluralistic society in an ‘electronic age’. She describes the current situation, in which responsibilities for communications are divided over a wide range of government organisations. The Communications Act of 1934 is under review, and the author focuses on major aspects of the debate, and lists suitable areas for government involvement. She concludes by stressing the need for the new US administration to provide a coherent structure for communications policy making to encourage the essential free flow of information.     

A new measure of US residential broadband availability

The only comprehensive published indicator of residential broadband availability in the US is number of providers in each ZIP code, as reported by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This measure has been widely used in academic and policy research to assess availability and to identify under-served areas, but it is acknowledged to be flawed and is often misinterpreted.     

Regulation and investment behaviour in the telecommunications sector: policies and patterns in US and Europe

This paper reports the results of the quantitative analysis of international experience of the relationship between infrastructure investment in the deployment of capacity that can carry large volumes of voice and data traffic and regulatory policy changes in the telecommunications sectors. It looks at the relationship between infrastructure investment for these infrastructure assets and the access pricing régimes for local exchange carriers in the United States and Europe. It then looks at the relationship between various aspects of regulatory and institutional policy changes in Europe and how they affect access prices.The paper finds that a lower access price promotes greater deployment of digital technology among US incumbent local exchange carriers (ILECs). Based on this finding, it suggests that it is in the ILECs interest to have access to their networks encouraged.The European data for interconnection are recent and far reaching conclusions are not feasible, but the findings, however, suggest that competition has worked by facilitating new entry through decreasing interconnection prices, although path dependencies, of existing and traditional concepts, in the mindsets of operators as well as regulators, may account for these findings.     

US TV networks' response to new technology

The US television networks, so long the dominant force in US broadcasting, have seen their market shares and profits begin to fall as the new telecommunication services increase their penetration rates and fractionalize the viewing audience. In response to this competitive challenge, the networks have increased their offerings of news, bid high prices to retain the rights to professional sports, and decreased their reliance on theatrical movies. More importantly, the networks have themselves expanded into the new technologies in a number of different areas.     

National grain policies: The international dimension

Government intervention in the pricing and marketing of grains has led to increased use of restrictive trade practices to preserve domestic price levels and ensure orderly marketing of domestically produced and imported grain. The author examines this relationship between domestic agricultural and trade policies of a selected group of grain importing and exporting countries. The article suggests that, because of the strong link between domestic and trade policies, it will be difficult to reduce trade restrictions in international grain markets in future trade negotiations.     

玩具企业拆招美欧新标准

欧美轮番提高进口玩具安全标准给中国玩具出口带来巨大压力。有企业称,出口欧美玩具的检测费用甚至高于玩具生产成本,这对尚处于生产代工阶段的中小企业来说是致命的打击。商战实践证明,只有时刻跟踪标准变化趋势、按照高标准生产产品,才能为企业赢得商机,赢得市场。