Law Commons^™

Global Agricultural Price Supports: The Political And Economic Forces That Drive Unsustainable Agricultural Protectionism Policy, John Francis Hays

Dissertations

Agricultural tariffs and price supports are the last bastion of US and European protectionism. While all other areas of commerce have embraced change and welcomed open-market international commerce, agriculture has remained the lone holdout.

The small farmers for whom these support programs were designed no longer exist. Yet governments appropriate billions of dollars annually for the continued support of these outdated programs.

The fact that these governmental agencies resist change, even in an age of economic crises, record national debt, and one of the highest negative trade balances in history, is testimony to American civic indifference.

Public apathy precludes timely …

Hedging To Safety: A Political Economy Of Derivatives, Risk And Agriculture In The Developing World, Sasha Coler Breger Bush

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It has become common for researchers and international development institutions to recommend the use of derivative instruments to developing country farmers and policymakers as a means of insuring agricultural incomes against the threats posed by volatile global commodity prices. Despite such enthusiasm, very little research to date examines whether or not derivative instruments actually can deliver income support to agricultural producers who face commodity price risk. This dissertation evaluates these recommendations, focusing upon the potential income security benefits of hedging with futures instruments for coffee farmers in Mexico, Brazil and Uganda during the 1998-2002 coffee crisis. The three-part quantitative and …

International Trade Distorting Agricultural Subsidies: Legal And Policy Analysis, Sherzod R. Karimov

Maurer Theses and Dissertations

The WTO is no longer a privileged club of countries, it has transformed into a global trade system and its rules are not just internal and institutional but represent a world trade order. Free trade has expanded to many parts of the world, swallowing up countries that, a decade ago, never could be considered part of a world trade system. One example is Russia which followed socialistic ideals in the past but is now on the verge of gaining access to the WTO. Other countries of the former Soviet Union, including Uzbekistan, are rushing to join the club while others, …