Governments spend trillions every year on subsidies to a whole host of industries, ranging from agriculture to mining, energy to transport. Subsidies are supposed to contribute to the public good, but do they? In the vast majority of cases, the money, much of it derived from public taxes, is not merely wasted, it is used to wreck the environment. All too often, subsidies go to those who least need them -- frequently to corporations and special interest groups which recycle some of the funds to support the politicians who keep the subsidies going. Charlie Pye-Smith has written a riveting and eye-opening book on this huge racket. Based on research in North America, with examples from Europe and elsewhere, "The Subsidy Scandal" "follows the money" to find out where it goes and what it produces. Pye-Smith's travels are vibrantly illuminated by interviews with bureaucrats, politicians, loggers, farmers, miners, fishermen, industrialists and environmentalists, and with their help he tells stories of such economic absurdity and environmental vandalism, as would barely be credible if they weren't true. "The Subsidy Scandal" raises major questions about the way we are governed -- and misgoverned -- and highlights the need for urgent, world-wide reform.
Basic Research Resources in Political Science
Teagasc has recently established a rural viability service which is specially aimed at farm families who are "under pressure" for income (Carey, 2000). The relevance of REPS as an option to increase farm income is an important element ...
Greening Farm Subsidies: The Next Step in Removing Perverse Farm Subsidies, 2003
In June 2016, the United Kingdom (UK) voted in a referendum to leave the European Union, a separation nicknamed Brexit. ... farm payments can support the positive contributions that farmers make to the environment, to rural economies, ...
Anderson, K. and Y. Hayami (1989): The Political Economy of Agricultural Protection: East Asia in International Perspective, ... Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. Johnson, D.G. (1971, 1991): World Agriculture in Disarray, ...
With reference to India.
Supporting Indian Farms the Smart Way