The Effects of Policies of Price Support on Agricultural Incomes

Abstract

The absolute or relative declines in agricultural incomes which became particularly evident after the 1929 crisis, gave rise in a number of countries to a series of measures ‘to organize the markets’. These measures have taken various forms: price support, exemption from taxes, harvest and livestock insurance, credit facilities, bonuses for reductions in areas under cultivation, subsidies intended to increase incomes directly or to reduce the prices of products necessary for agriculture, and others of the same kind. The support of agricultural prices was the most important element amongst these.