A Billion Dollars a Day: The Economics and Politics of Agricultural Subsidies

Why do Europe, the United States, and some key Asian countries spend, in aggregate, a billion dollars a day on various agricultural price supports, when much of this money ends up in the hands of large agribusiness? In a lively, non-technical, and up-to-date account, this book addresses the core questions that surround the issues of agricultural subsidies.

Peterson provides a detailed examination of subsidy histories and the current policies of the United States, various European countries, Australia and New Zealand, and Korea and Japan. Also included is a discussion of how these policies affect developing countries—examining, in particular, their impact on many African farmers.

With the growing crisis in world food supply, Peterson’s thorough examination of global agricultural price supports sheds light on the inefficiencies and waste that result and suggests how to better manage these highly sensitive political programmes.