1st Edition

Should Global Agriculture be Liberalized?

    175 Pages
    by CRC Press

    According to standard economic theory and modelling, liberalizing agriculture will result in important welfare gains. Because of price volatility, an alternative model, based in general disequilibrium in the Wicksellian tradition, provides much less optimistic conclusions, actually supported by the recent evolution of the world agricultural system, as well as by the history of the many attempts of agricultural trade liberalization since the 18th century.

    Introduction I.
    What can be Expected from the Liberalization of Agricultural Trade?
    Ricardo's Parable
    Risk Aversion
    The Law of Large Numbers and Market Stabilization II.
    Theoretical Criticism of Agricultural Liberalism: Galiani
    The Notion of Demand Elasticity
    Algebraic Expressions of the Cobweb Theorem III.
    The Test of Facts IV.
    Designing an Economic Model for International Trade: The CES Function
    "First-order Conditions"
    The LES Function and Consumer Behavior
    The GTAP Database V.
    How can Theory and History be Introduced in a Standard Model?
    The Markowitz Model VI.
    A Choice of Results VII.
    Could We Do Better?
    The Algebra of Futures Markets VIII.
    Recent Developments
    Conclusion

    Biography

    Jean-Marc Boussard, Françoise Gerard, Marie-Gabrielle Piketty