Rent Seeking and Biotechnology

"Yet today we have only a handful of genetically modified crops, primarily soybeans, corn, canola and cotton. All are commodity crops mainly used for feed or fiber and all were developed by big biotech companies. Only big companies can muster the money necessary to navigate the regulatory thicket woven by the government's three oversight agencies: the E.P.A., the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/opinion/genetically-engineered-food-for-all.html?_r=3

AgBiotech combating climate change « The Berkeley Blog

http://blogs.berkeley.edu/2011/08/14/agbiotech-and-combating-climate-change/

Some teasers:

"GMOs in the US and in other countries, reduce significantly the use of rather toxic pesticide chemicals and there is evidence that they actually save significant amount of lives in India and China. "

"It is easy to show that if restrictions on the adoption of GMOs would have been removed and adoption rates of GM varieties in Europe would have been similar to the observed patterns of adoption, then much of the recent increase in commodity food prices would have been diminished. Introduction of GM varieties to wheat and rice would have further reduced commodity prices whereby helping the poor and would have released resources for other uses."

"The land use saving effect of GM varieties is estimated to have the equivalent effect of taking between 800,000-9 million passenger cars off of the road....The use of herbicide-tolerant varieties enable large scale adoption of low-tillage practices that sequester carbon and greenhouse gas sequestering effect is estimated to be equal to that of taking 6.4 million cars off the road."

"The heavy regulation of GMOs are unsound not only because of the loss of benefits from existing varieties, but because of the loss of potential benefits from newer applications of GMOs"

Greg Mankiw's Blog: What nation has the most progressive tax system?

Based on these numbers, the U.S. has the most progressive tax system in the world by far.

The top 10% of earners earn about 33.5% of all income on the U.S. but pay 45.1% of taxes. They in essence pay 35% more in taxes than what they earn as a share of income.

There is also an interesting discussion on how these numbers are used and interpreted.

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-nation-has-most-progressive-tax.html

The Economics of the S&P Downgrade

From the report: http://www.ft.com/cms/af2c4fac-bfc2-11e0-90d5-00144feabdc0.pdf  

“the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges to a degree more than we envisioned when we assigned a negative outlook to the rating on April 18, 2011”

One of the main reasons that the ‘multiplier’ effects of the stimulus have not taken hold, and the reason that the economy is recovering so sluggishly is the uncertainty in the regulatory environment. Last fall, NCBA president Steve Fogelsong put this quite well in an interview on Agritalk where he discusses the regulatory zeal including cap and trade, the takeover of the financial and auto industry, the student loan industry, dust regulation, inheritance taxes, failure of pending free trade agreements, as well as livestock marketing regulations to name a few (at 9:23 on the clip you can find here) 

A very similar argument  is also well put in a post on the economics blog Café Hayek:

"But if the decline in GDP growth and in the rate of employment are caused, not by a taste-driven increase in the demand for money but, instead, by a large enough disruption in what Arnold Kling calls "patterns of sustainable specialization and trade," then kicking up aggregate demand won't solve the problem.  Neither kicking it up, or trying to, through monetary policy or through fiscal policy will work.  The problem is not originally one of widespread inadequate demand…. it is clearly the result of distorting government policies, regulatory and monetary, leading up to 2008 as well as of the symptom-treating policies since then that only worsen matters.  (And not to mention yet other actual and threatened policies)”

The issue of regulatory uncertainty is not unique to our current economic challenges, we had a very similar situation following the Great Depression, which lasted for over a decade. According to Robert Higgs, this was largely the result of New Deal Policies that created regulatory uncertainty prolonging the depression. You can find his paper here. You can also find a good discussion of this work  on the EconTalk podcast here.

I’ve shared a lot of the following research in the past discussing the prediction that the stimulus probably would not work, but given the recent downgrade in the U.S. credit rating, it seems like it is worth a review:

"The Keynesians had it all wrong. In the Great Depression, employment was not low because investment was low. Employment and investment were low because labor market institutions and industrial policies changed in a way that lowered normal employment." --Edward C. Prescott Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review Winter 1999, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 25–31

"We find that New Deal cartelization policies are an important factor in accounting for the failure of the economy to recover back to trend." -Journal of Political Economy, 2004, vol. 112, no. 4 New Deal Policies and the Persistance of the Great Depression : A General Equilibrium Analysis. Harold L. Cole and Lee E. Ohanion.

"We conclude that a new shock is needed to account for the Depression’s weak recovery. A likely culprit is New Deal policies toward monopoly and the distribution of income." ---The Great Depression in the United States From A Neoclassical Perspective Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review Winter 1999, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 2–24

"Businessmen came to ask themseleves whether Roosevelt really understood a system where the hope of profit sparks expansion and investment. Or did he believe simply in centralizing decision and authority in boards and "planners" along the Patomac?" ---The Enterprising Americans: A Business History of the United States BY JOHN CHAMBERLAIN INSTITUTE FOR CHRISTIAN ECONOMICS TYLER, TEXAS 

Until we can start thinking outside the box of Keynesian economic policies as well as get a handle on the uncertain regulatory environment, we won’t likely see a strong recovery. That means higher budget deficits and downward pressure on future credit ratings.

For a more entertaining look at policy alternatives, I highly recommend the following youtube videos:

Fear the Boom and Bust

New Research On Fair Trade Coffee

 The Problem with Fair Trade Coffee
By Colleen Haight.  Stanford Social Innovation Review Summer 2011 link



My field and analytical research has found that there are distinct limitations to the Fair Trade model.7 Perhaps the most serious challenge is the extraordinarily high price of coffee. “The market today is five times higher than when FLO entered the United States. The market’s at $2.50 (per pound for commodity coffee) today vs. the 40 cents or 50 cents (per pound) it was at in 2001,” says Dennis Macray, former director of global sustainability at Starbucks Coffee Co. This price shift dampens farmers’ desire to sell their high-quality coffee at the Fair Trade price. Many co-ops, according to Macray, are choosing to default on the Fair Trade contracts, so that they can do better for their members by selling on the open market. 

(HT to Knowledge Problem )

ScienceDirect - Ecological Economics : Impact of Bt cotton on pesticide poisoning in

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800911002400

A case of the internalization of negative externalities via technological change and market forces w/o taxes or  new regulations. 

Abstract

While substantial research on the productivity and profit effects of Bt cotton has been carried out recently, the economic evaluation of positive and negative externalities has received much less attention. Here, we focus on farmer health impacts resulting from Bt-related changes in chemical pesticide use. Previous studies have documented that Bt cotton has reduced the problem of pesticide poisoning in developing countries, but they have failed to account for unobserved heterogeneity between technology adopters and non-adopters. We use unique panel survey data from India to estimate unbiased effects and their developments over time. Bt cotton has reduced pesticide applications by 50%, with the largest reductions of 70% occurring in the most toxic types of chemicals. Results of fixed-effects Poisson models confirm that Bt has notably reduced the incidence of acute pesticide poisoning among cotton growers. These effects have become more pronounced with increasing technology adoption rates. Bt cotton now helps to avoid several million cases of pesticide poisoning in India every year, which also entails sizeable health cost savings.

Overpopulation? Not

HT to Cafe Hayek, I've been looking for thus data a while. 

http://persquaremile.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/the-worlds-population-concentrated.png

Overpopulation? Not

HT to Cafe Hayek, I've been looking for this data some time now, and I finally found it. The ramifications in terms of recycling, landfill space etc in relation to this are interesting to think about.

http://persquaremile.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/the-worlds-population-concentrated.png

Jobs for Data Scientists Explode Across The Market - NYTimes.com

Data scientist positions are outpacing demand growth for statisticians- 'data scientists' are typically more well rounded in terms of theoretical and applied statistical knowledge, programming & data hacking skills, and industry subject matter as opposed to traditional statisticians.

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2011/07/20/20readwriteweb-jobs-for-data-scientists-explode-across-the-91949.html

PSST- Regime Uncertainty?

From Cafe Hayek- a framework for discussing the debt ceiling, the deficit, the financial crisis, recession, & what to do about it:

"But if the decline in GDP growth and in the rate of employment are caused, not by a taste-driven increase in the demand for money but, instead, by a large enough disruption in what Arnold Kling calls "patterns of sustainable specialization and trade," then kicking up aggregate demand won't solve the problem.  Neither kicking it up, or trying to, through monetary policy or through fiscal policy will work.  The problem is not originally one of widespread inadequate demand.  In thiscase, inadequate aggregate demand is a symptom; treating the symptom will not cure the disease and, indeed, will only worsen it.

Without venturing here an opinion on the underlying source of each and every recession throughout American history, I will express an opinion about the current recession: it is clearly the result of distorting government policies, regulatory and monetary, leading up to 2008 as well as of the symptom-treating policies since then that only worsen matters.  (And not to mention yet other actual and threatened policies"

http://cafehayek.com/2011/07/its-the-psst-stupid.html

Walmart Express and Food Deserts

From the Knowledge Problem blog:

"If Walmart can leverage their supply chain logistics to bring their low-price model to these markets, this could expand the market while increasing competition, all of which benefits consumers. And, in a city like Chicago with low-income neighborhoods that qualify as "food deserts", a store like Walmart Express could provide retail access to fresh food in such areas."

http://knowledgeproblem.com/2011/07/05/walmart-express-market-definition-and-local-politics/

I think some people would like to blame 'food deserts' on profit oriented retailors and 'industrial agriculture'. But here we have an example where a big box retailer is being presented as a possible solution to the 'food desert' dilemma. It make sense that given the extensive hurdles to bringing healthy food to some markets (forgetting for a moment those barriers associated with production agriculture) such as minimum wages, risk,liability, the war on drugs, taxes, and the regulatory environment, that a company like Wal-Mart could leverage their supply chain  and possibly make a profit where no one else can. 

Of course, Wal-Mart is no clear capitalist hero. Many of these progressive policies that have contributed to 'food deserts' likely found their way on corporate lobbyists' to do list. The essence of rent seeking is to expend resources to carve out a secure niche in the tax and regulatory environment. 

Drovers CattleNetwork - Agsight: No speculators? No thanks! - Cattle News - Editorial, Grain & Cattle Markets, Current Stories

A great article on commodity market speculation

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news/Agsight-No-speculators-No-thanks.html

Sent from my iPod touch

Top #Obama Aid Calls For Deregulation of #GMO #Food

"Dr. Beachy asked the subcommittee to consider the unintended consequences of overly stringent regulations of biotech crops. These include creating the perception that the technology is unsafe and causing many developing countries to be reluctant to adopt the technology. He noted, "It (the regulatory process) has adapted poorly in response to the proven safety record and absence of adverse affect on the environment or on animal and human health of GE crops. It has not adapted to changes that have further enhanced the safety of the technologies; and it has not adapted to the needs of the market. The system needs attention, modification, and improvement if the U.S. and global agriculture communities and its consumers are to benefit from the investment in past and current science and technology that can impact agriculture and agriforestry."

Rethinking Regulations for Biotech Crops - http://www.truthabouttrade.org/news/editorials/trade-policy-analysis/18078-rethinking-regulations-for-biotech-crops

Review & Outlook: The Jobless Summer - WSJ.com

A very good piece on the minimum wage and the negative impacts on future income earning opportunities.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576411903821123330.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_opinion

A Picture of The Minimum Wage

Image Source: Mark Perry
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2011/06/but-at-least-politicians-care-in-theory.html

Below is a summary of most of the research in this area.  (this is a direct copy/paste from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee Report '50 Years of Research on the Minimum Wage, 1995). Note, very few studies [Card (1992b), Card and Krueger (1994), and Katz and Krueger (1992)] empirically challenge the consensus that minimum wages make it harder for individuals  to find jobs or that they suffer loss of employment as a result. 

• The minimum wage reduces employment.Currie and Fallick (1993), Gallasch (1975), Gardner (1981), Peterson (1957), Peterson and Stewart (1969).
• The minimum wage reduces employment more among teenagers than adults.Adie (1973); Brown, Gilroy and Kohen (1981a, 1981b); Fleisher (1981); Hammermesh (1982); Meyer and Wise (1981, 1983a); Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981); Neumark and Wascher (1992); Ragan (1977); Vandenbrink (1987); Welch (1974, 1978); Welch and Cunningham (1978).
• The minimum wage reduces employment most among black teenage males.Al-Salam, Quester, and Welch (1981), Iden (1980), Mincer (1976), Moore (1971), Ragan (1977), Williams (1977a, 1977b).
• The minimum wage helped South African whites at the expense of blacks.Bauer (1959).
• The minimum wage hurts blacks generally.Behrman, Sickles and Taubman (1983); Linneman (1982).
• The minimum wage hurts the unskilled.Krumm (1981).
• The minimum wage hurts low wage workers.Brozen (1962), Cox and Oaxaca (1986), Gordon (1981).
• The minimum wage hurts low wage workers particularly during cyclical downturns.Kosters and Welch (1972), Welch (1974).
• The minimum wage increases job turnover.Hall (1982).
• The minimum wage reduces average earnings of young workers.Meyer and Wise (1983b).
• The minimum wage drives workers into uncovered jobs, thus lowering wages in those sectors.Brozen (1962), Tauchen (1981), Welch (1974).
• The minimum wage reduces employment in low-wage industries, such as retailing.Cotterman (1981), Douty (1960), Fleisher (1981), Hammermesh (1981), Peterson (1981).
• The minimum wage hurts small businesses generally.Kaun (1965).
• The minimum wage causes employers to cut back on training.Hashimoto (1981, 1982), Leighton and Mincer (1981), Ragan (1981).
• The minimum wage has long-term effects on skills and lifetime earnings.Brozen (1969), Feldstein (1973).
• The minimum wage leads employers to cut back on fringe benefits.McKenzie (1980), Wessels (1980).
• The minimum wage encourages employers to install labor-saving devices.Trapani and Moroney (1981).
• The minimum wage hurts low-wage regions, such as the South and rural areas.Colberg (1960, 1981), Krumm (1981).
• The minimum wage increases the number of people on welfare.Brandon (1995), Leffler (1978).
• The minimum wage hurts the poor generally.Stigler (1946).
• The minimum wage does little to reduce poverty.Bonilla (1992), Brown (1988), Johnson and Browning (1983), Kohen and Gilroy (1981), Parsons (1980), Smith and Vavrichek (1987).
• The minimum wage helps upper income families.Bell (1981), Datcher and Loury (1981), Johnson and Browning (1981), Kohen and Gilroy (1981).
• The minimum wage helps unions.Linneman (1982), Cox and Oaxaca (1982).
• The minimum wage lowers the capital stock.McCulloch (1981).
• The minimum wage increases inflationary pressure.Adams (1987), Brozen (1966), Gramlich (1976), Grossman (1983).
• The minimum wage increases teenage crime rates.Hashimoto (1987), Phillips (1981).
• The minimum wage encourages employers to hire illegal aliens.Beranek (1982).
• Few workers are permanently stuck at the minimum wage.Brozen (1969), Smith and Vavrichek (1992).
• The minimum wage has had a massive impact on unemployment in Puerto Rico.Freeman and Freeman (1991), Rottenberg (1981b).
• The minimum wage has reduced employment in foreign countries.Canada: Forrest (1982); Chile: Corbo (1981); Costa Rica: Gregory (1981); France: Rosa (1981).
• Characteristics of minimum wage workersEmployment Policies Institute (1994), Haugen and Mellor (1990), Kniesner (1981), Mellor (1987), Mellor and Haugen (1986), Smith and Vavrichek (1987), Van Giezen (1994).

References

Adams, F. Gerard. 1987. Increasing the Minimum Wage: The Macroeconomic Impacts.Briefing Paper, Economic Policy Institute (July). 

Finds that an increase in the minimum wage from $3.35 to $4.65 over three years would increase the unemployment rate by less than 0.1% and the inflation rate by 0.2%.

Adie, Douglas K. 1973. Teen-Age Unemployment and Real Federal Minimum Wages. Journal of Political Economy, vol. 81 (March/April): 435-441. 

Finds that the minimum wage is responsible for a considerable amount of teenage unemployment.Al-Salam, Nabeel; Quester, Aline; and Welch, Finis. 1981. Some Determinants of the Level and Racial Composition of Teenage Employment. In Rottenberg (1981a): 124-154.Notes that in 1954, black teenage males were more likely to be employed than white teenage males. Since that time, the proportion of black teenage males employed has fallen sharply, while employment for white teenage males has risen. Expansion of coverage of the minimum wage appears to be a major factor in this trend. Further notes that more than half of all teenagers would earn more in the absence of a minimum wage.Bauer, P.T. 1959. Regulated Wages in Under-developed Countries. In The Public Stake in Union Power, ed. Philip D. Bradley. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 324-349.Argues that the negative effects of minimum wage laws in LDCs is even greater than in industrialized countries, because there is greater diversity of supply and demand for labor in LDCs. Also points out that in South Africa minimum wages helped whites at the expense of blacks.Behrman, Jere R.; Sickles, Robin C.; and Taubman, Paul. 1983. The Impact of Minimum Wages on the Distributions of Earnings for Major Race-Sex Groups: A Dynamic Analysis.American Economic Review, vol. 73 (September): 766-778.Finds that the minimum wage has helped white males and females while hurting black males and females.Bell, Carolyn Shaw. 1981. Minimum Wages and Personal Income. In Rottenberg (1981a): 429-458.Finds that increases in the minimum wage would benefit few families with incomes below the poverty level. Much of the benefit would accrue to upper income families with secondary earners, such as wives and children.Beranek, William. 1982. The Illegal Alien Work Force, Demand for Unskilled Labor, and the Minimum Wage. Journal of Labor Research, vol. 3 (Winter): 89-99.Finds that the minimum wage increases the employment demand for illegal aliens, who are less likely than legal residents to report violations of the labor laws.Betsey, Charles L., and Dunson, Bruce H. 1981. Federal Minimum Wage Laws and the Employment of Minority Youth. American Economic Review, vol. 71 (May): 379-384.Argues that employment losses from higher minimum wages have been overstated and that much of the higher unemployment among minority youth has been due to cyclical factors.Bonilla, Carlos E. 1992. Higher Wages, Greater Poverty. Washington: Employment Policies Institute.Finds that the 1991 increase in the federal minimum wage actually reduced the income of some single parents, after welfare and taxes are taken into account.Brandon, Peter D. 1995. Jobs Taken by Mothers Moving from Welfare to Work and the Effects of Minimum Wages on this Transition. Washington: Employment Policies Institute Foundation.Finds a decrease in work by women on welfare in states raising their minimum wages and an increase in time on welfare in such states.Brown, Charles. 1988. Minimum Wage Laws: Are They Overrated? Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 2 (Summer): 133-145.Finds that they employment impact of the minimum wage and its impact on reducing poverty are both less than generally believed.Brown, Charles; Gilroy, Curtis; and Kohen, Andrew. 1981a. Effects of the Minimum Wage on Youth Employment and Unemployment. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 5, pp. 1-26.Finds that a 10% increase in the minimum wage will reduce teenage employment by 1% to 3%.Brown, Charles; Gilroy, Curtis; and Kohen, Andrew. 1981b. Time-Series Evidence of the Effect of the Minimum Wage on Teenage Employment and Unemployment. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 5, pp. 103-127.Finds that a 10% increase in the minimum wage will reduce teenage employment by 1%.Brown, Charles; Gilroy, Curtis; and Kohen, Andrew. 1982. The Effect of the Minimum Wage on Employment and Unemployment. Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 20 (June): 487-528.Summarizes a large volume of research on the minimum wage.Brozen, Yale. 1962. Minimum Wage Rates and Household Workers. Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 5 (October): 103-109.Found that increases in the minimum wage drove low-wage workers into uncovered occupations, such as household work. Predicts that broadening of coverage to such occupations will increase structural unemployment.Brozen, Yale. 1966. Wage Rates, Minimum Wage Laws, and Unemploy-ment. New Individualist Re- view, vol. 4 (Spring): 24-33.Points out a contradiction between the Johnson Administration's desire to hold wage increases to the rate of productivity growth, in order to reduce inflationary pressures, and its support for a higher minimum wage.Brozen, Yale. 1969. The Effect of Statutory Minimum Wage Increases on Teen-age Employment. Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 12 (April): 109-122.Finds that increases in the minimum wage only speed up wage increases that would have occurred over time. However, in the interval between an increase and the time when productivity catches up to it results in higher unemployment and business failures. In the case of teenagers, many who are barred from jobs suffer long-term effects from the failure to gain job skills, thus injuring them permanently.Card, David. 1992a. Using Regional Variation in Wages to Measure the Effects of the Federal Minimum Wage. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 22-37.Finds no evidence that the April, 1990 increase in the minimum wage reduced teenage employment, but does find evidence that it led to higher wages.Card, David. 1992b. Do Minimum Wages Reduce Employment? A Case Study of California, 1987-89. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 38-54.Finds no evidence that an increase in the California state minimum wage in July, 1988 led to any loss in teenage employment, but does find evidence of higher wages.Card, David, and Krueger, Alan B. 1994. Minimum Wages and Employ-ment: A Case Study of the Fast-Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. American Economic Review, vol. 84 (September): 772-793.Finds no evidence of reduced employment from an increase in the New Jersey state minimum wage in April, 1992.Colberg, Marshall R. 1960. Minimum Wage Effects on Florida's Economic Development.Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 3 (October): 106-117.Finds that after an increase in the minimum wage unemployment increased most in the areas where wages were lowest and least in areas where wages were highest beforehand.Colberg, Marshall. 1981. Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Economic Activity. In Rottenberg (1981a): 247-263.Examines votes on the minimum wage and finds heavy support for it in high wage states of the North and opposition from low wage states in the South. This suggests that the North was attempting to reduce the South's competitive advantage in wages.Corbo, Vittorio. 1981. The Impact of Minimum Wages on Industrial Employment in Chile. In Rottenberg (1981a): 340-356.Finds substantial job losses from the minimum wage in Chile.Cotterill, Philip. 1981. Differential Legal Minimum Wages. In Rottenberg (1981a): 296-316.Favors differential minimum wages to reduce the impact of the minimum wage.Cotterman, Robert F. 1981. The Effects of Federal Minimum Wages on the Industrial Distribution of Teenage Employment. In Rottenberg (1981a): 42-60.Finds that minimum wages have altered the distribution of teenage employment. Teenagers are less likely to be employed in low wage industries, such as retailing, and increase employment in high wage industries, such as manufacturing.Cox, James C., and Oaxaca, Ronald L. 1981. The Determinants of Minimum Wage Levels and Coverage in State Minimum Wage Laws. In Rottenberg (1981a): 403-428.Finds that union support for the minimum wage is significant politically.Cox, James C., and Oaxaca, Ronald L. 1982. The Political Economy of Minimum Wage Legislation. Economic Inquiry, vol. 20 (October): 533-555.Explains why unions support minimum wages.Cox, James C., and Oaxaca, Ronald L. 1986. Minimum Wage Effects With Output Stabilization. Economic Inquiry, vol. 24 (July): 443-453.Finds that the minimum wage causes unskilled wages to be 15.7% higher than they otherwise would be, and that this causes employment to be 11.2% lower than it otherwise would be.Cunningham, James. 1981. The Impact of Minimum Wages on Youth Employment, Hours of Work, and School Attendance: Cross-sectional Evidence from the 1960 and 1970 Censuses. In Rottenberg (1981a): 88-123.Finds that minimum wages discourage part-time work and lowers school attendance.Currie, Janet, and Fallick, Bruce. 1993. A Note on the New Minimum Wage Research. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 4348 (April).Finds that employed individuals affected by the increases in the minimum wage in 1979 and 1980 were 3% to 4% less likely to be employed a year later. Since the methodology employed is similar to that in Card (1992a and 1992b), it casts doubt on any generalization of his conclusions.Datcher, Linda P., and Loury, Glenn C. 1981. The Effect of Minimum Wage Legislation on the Distribution of Family Earnings Among Blacks and Whites. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 7, pp. 125-146.Finds that an increase in the minimum wage increases white family incomes more than black family incomes. Also, middle- and high-income families benefit more than low-income families.Douty, H.M. 1960. Some Effects of the $1.00 Minimum Wage in the United States.Economica, vol. 27 (May): 137-147.Finds that the increase in the minimum wage from 75 cents to $1.00 in 1956 did lead to an increase in pay for many workers, but at the cost of jobs. Long-term employment losses by industry ranged from 3.2% to 15%.Ehrenberg, Ronald G., and Schumann, Paul L. 1981. The Overtime Pay Provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. In Rottenberg (1981a): 264-295.Opposes restrictions on mandatory overtime.Employment Policies Institute. 1994. The Low-Wage Workforce. Washington: Employment Policies Institute.Presents data on characteristics of workers earning the minimum wage.Feldstein, Martin. 1973. The Economics of the New Unemployment. The Public Interest (Fall): 14-15.Argues that the minimum wage prevents many young people from accepting jobs that would provide them with on-the-job training, thus contributing to long-term unemploy- ment.Fleisher, Belton M. 1981. Minimum Wage Regulation in Retail Trade. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Extension of the minimum wage to retail trade lowered employment in that industry by as much as 500,000, with the main impact on teenagers. Also finds that higher minimum wages led to a scale-back of fringe benefits and training.Forrest, David. 1982. Minimum Wages and Youth Unemployment: Will Britain Learn from Canada? Journal of Economic Affairs, vol. 2 (July): 247-250.Estimates that 40% of the increase in teenage unemployment in Canada since the 1950s is due to higher minimum wages.Freeman, Alida Castillo, and Freeman, Richard B. 1991. Minimum Wages in Puerto Rico: Textbook Case of a Wage Floor? National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 3759 (June).Finds that the minimum wage has had a massive impact on the labor market in Puerto Rico.Gallasch, H.F., Jr. 1975. Minimum Wages and the Farm Labor Market. Southern Economic Journal, vol. 41 (January): 480-491.Finds that the 1967 extension of the minimum wage to the farm labor market, which had previously been uncovered, led to an increase in wages and a reduction in employment.Gardner, Bruce. 1981. What Have Minimum Wages Done in Agriculture? In Rottenberg (1981a): 210-232.Finds that extension of the minimum wage to farm workers has increased wages but reduced employment.Gordon, Kenneth. 1981. The Impact of Minimum Wages on Private Household Workers. In Rottenberg (1981a): 191-209.Finds that the minimum wage has led to a dramatic reduction in household workers. Also notes that the policy of enforcement of labor laws by complaint converts the minimum wage from an instrument of public policy to a tool of private disputes.Gramlich, Edward M. 1976. Impact of Minimum Wages on Other Wages, Employment, and Family Incomes. Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (No. 2): 409-461.Finds that raising the minimum wage above 40 to 50 percent of median wages leads to increased compliance costs, higher unemployment, workers forced to leave full-time work for part-time work, more benefits for high-income families, and inflationary effects on prices.Gregory, Peter. 1981. Legal Minimum Wages as an Instrument of Social Policy in Less Developed Countries, with Special Reference to Costa Rica. In Rottenberg (1981a): 377-402.Finds that the minimum wage has been ineffective in reducing income inequality.Grossman, Jean B. 1983. The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Other Wages. Journal of Human Resources, vol. 18 (Summer): 359-378.Finds that an increase in the minimum wage increases wages of those above the minimum wage for two reasons. First, workers above the minimum will want to restore their relative wage position, and second there will be increased demand for workers above the minimum to do the work previously done by those below the minimum.Grossman, Jonathan. 1978. Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 101 (June): 22-30.Reviews the legislative history of passage of the first federal minimum wage law. Notes the limited coverage of the initial legislation.Hall, Robert E. 1982. The Minimum Wage and Job Turnover in Markets for Young Workers. InThe Youth Labor Market Problem: Its Nature, Causes, and Consequences, ed. Richard B. Freeman and David A. Wise, pp. 475-497. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Finds that the higher unemployment among youth resulting from the minimum wage is primarily due to higher job turnover.Hammermesh, Daniel S. 1981. Employment Demand, the Minimum Wage and Labor Costs. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 5, pp. 27-84.Finds that a 10% increase in the minimum wage will reduce teenage employment by 1.2% overall, with smaller declines in services and retail trade and a higher impact in manufacturing.Hammermesh, Daniel S. 1982. Minimum Wages and the Demand for Labor. Economic Inquiry, vol. 20 (July): 365-380.Finds that a minimum wage reduces teenage employment.Hashimoto, Masanori. 1981. Minimum Wages and On-the-Job Training. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Finds that minimum wage laws lead to a curtailment of training by employers.Hashimoto, Masanori. 1982. Minimum Wage Effects on Training on the Job. American Economic Review, vol. 72 (December): 1070-1087.Finds that minimum wages reduce training, first because workers lose job opportunities, and hence on the job training, and second because employers will no longer be able to afford to give such training.Hashimoto, Masanori. 1987. The Minimum Wage Law and Youth Crimes: Time-Series Evidence. Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 30 (October): 443-464.Suggests that increases in the minimum wage may be responsible for increases in teenage crime rates.Haugen, Steven E., and Mellor, Earl F. 1990. Estimating the Number of Minimum Wage Workers. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 113 (January): 70-74.Estimates that two-fifths of workers reporting wage rates at or below the minimum wage in 1988 had supplements raising their wage rates above the minimum. However, some 1.5 million salaried workers may also make the minimum wage or less on an hourly rate.Holcombe, Randall G., and Metcalf, John G. 1977. The Appeal of Minimum Wage Laws: A Dynamic Analysis. Public Choice, vol. 29 (Spring): 139-141.Explains the popularity of minimum wage laws even among those who lose their jobs as a result as stemming from the high turnover in the low-wage market. Although a worker may initially lose his job because of an increase in the minimum wage, he will expect to get other jobs in the future that will pay more.Iden, George. 1980. The Labor Force Experience of Black Youth: A Review. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 103 (August): 10-16.Concedes that the minimum wage has had a significant negative effect on teenage employment, especially for blacks.Johnson, William R., and Browning, Edgar K. 1981. Minimum Wages and the Distribution of Income. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 7, pp. 31-58.Finds that much of the benefits of a higher minimum wage accrue to high-income families and that many low-income families benefit at the expense of other low-income families.Johnson, William R., and Browning, Edgar K. 1983. The Distributional and Efficiency Effects of Increasing the Minimum Wage: A Simulation. American Economic Review, vol. 73 (March): 204-211.Finds that a 22% increase in the minimum wage in 1976 would have increased the incomes of the lowest 10% of households by just $200 million.Katz, Lawrence F., and Krueger, Alan B. 1992. The Effect of the Minimum Wage on the Fast-Food Industry. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 6-21.Finds evidence that an increase in the minimum wage led to an increase in employment in Texas.Kaun, David E. 1965. Minimum Wages, Factor Substitution and the Marginal Producer.Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 79 (August): 478-486.The minimum wage hurts small businesses.Keech, William R. 1977. More on the Vote Winning and Vote Losing Qualities of Minimum Wage Laws. Public Choice, vol. 29 (Spring): 133-137.Suggests that support for the minimum wage even among those adversely affected may result from those benefiting having a clearer perception of the benefits than those who are harmed have of the negative effects.Kniesner, Thomas J. 1981. The Low-Wage Workers: Who Are They? In Rottenberg (1981a): 459-481.Finds that 60% of low-wage workers are women and less than 40% are teenagers. Also finds that low wages are not strongly associated with poverty. Less than 25% of low wage workers are heads of households, and only 30% live in families with incomes below the poverty level.Kohen, Andrew I., and Gilroy, Curtis L. 1981. The Minimum Wage, Income Distribution, and Poverty. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 7, pp. 1-30.Since many low-wage workers live in high-income families, increasing the minimum wage is an ineffective way of increasing the incomes of poor families.Kosters, Marvin, and Welch, Finis. 1972. The Effects of Minimum Wages on the Distribution of Changes in Aggregate Employment.American Economic Review, vol. 62 (June): 323-332.Finds that increases in the minimum wage have a significant effect on employment patterns, especially for nonwhite teenagers. As a consequence, teenagers are less able to find jobs during periods of normal employment growth and are more likely to lose their jobs during cyclical downturns.Krumm, Ronald J. 1981. The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Regional Labor Markets. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Finds that lower-skilled workers tend to be disemployed when minimum wages are applied uniformly, leading to higher wages for higher-skilled workers. Also, because the cost of living varies from region to region, the real minimum wage will also vary.Lang, Kevin. 1995. Minimum Wage Laws and the Distribution of Employment. Washington: Employment Policies Institute Foundation.Finds that increases in the minimum wage leads fast food establishments to replace adult workers with younger workers, and to replace full-time workers with part-time workers.Leffler, Keith B. 1978. Minimum Wages, Welfare, and Wealth Trans-fers to the Poor.Journal of Law and Economics, vol. 21 (October): 345-358.Finds that increases in the minimum wage lead to increases in welfare rolls. Argues that advocates for the poor may favor higher minimum wages in order to increase the number of people on welfare, because welfare benefits may exceed the income from work.Leighton, Linda, and Mincer, Jacob. 1981. The Effects of Minimum Wages on Human Capital Formation. In Rottenberg (1981a): 155-173.Finds that minimum wages discourage on-the-job training.Levitan, Sar, and Belous, Richard S. 1979. The Minimum Wage Today: How Well Does It Work? Monthly Labor Review, vol. 102 (July): 17-21.Argues that the benefits of the minimum wage outweigh its costs.Linneman, Peter. 1982. The Economic Impacts of Minimum Wage Laws: A New Look at an Old Question. Journal of Political Economy, vol. 90 (June): 443-469.Finds that the disemployment effects of the minimum wage fall mainly on blacks, females, restricted individuals, residents of small cities, those with low education, the old, and non-union members. Beneficiaries of the minimum wage mainly are males and union members.Mattila, J. Peter. 1981. The Impact of Minimum Wages on Teenage Schooling and on the Part-Time/Full-Time Employment of Youths. In Rottenberg (1981a): 61-87.Finds that the disemployment effects of the minimum wage have encouraged youths to stay in school. Also, youths have shifted out of full-time work and into part-time work, in order to accommodate schooling.McCulloch, J. Huston. 1981. Macroeconomic Implications of the Minimum Wage. In Rottenberg (1981a): 317-326.Finds negligible effects from the minimum wage on inflation. However, it may reduce the size of the capital stock by reducing profitability in covered industries, thereby leading to lower wages in the long run.McKee, Michael, and West, Edwin G. 1984. Minimum Wage Effects on Part-Time Employment. Economic Inquiry, vol. 22 (July): 421-428.Finds that the minimum wage discourages part-time employment in favor of full-time jobs.McKenzie, Richard B. 1980. The Labor Market Effects of Minimum Wage Laws: A New Perspective. Journal of Labor Research, vol. 1 (Fall): 255-264.Argues that increases in the minimum wage, which apply only to money wages, will lead to a reduction in non-money wages, such as fringe benefits. Thus employers can respond to a higher minimum wage by lowering benefits by the same amount.Mellor, Earl F. 1987. Workers at the Minimum Wage or Less: Who They Are and the Jobs They Hold. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 110 (July): 34-38.Finds that those earning at the minimum wage or less consist largely of young persons and women. The majority worked part-time in services or sales. Since many of these people probably also received commissions or tips, the number of workers earning the minimum wage or less may be overstated.Mellor, Earl F., and Haugen, Steven E. 1986. Hourly Paid Workers: Who They Are and What They Earn. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 109 (February): 20-26.Finds that 60% of those earning the minimum wage or less are under age 25 and one-third were teenagers.Meyer, Robert H., and Wise, David A. 1981. Discontinuous Distributions and Missing Persons: The Minimum Wage and Unemployed Youth. In Minimum Wage Study Commission (1981), vol. 5, pp. 175-201.Finds that abolition of the minimum wage would increase employment by out-of-school youth by 6%.Meyer, Robert H., and Wise, David A. 1983a. The Effects of the Minimum Wage on the Employment and Earnings of Youth. Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 1 (January): 66-100.Estimates that abolition of the minimum wage would have led to significantly higher employment among youth, especially black youth. Finds no evidence of higher earnings from the minimum wage.Meyer, Robert H., and Wise, David A. 1983b. Discontinuous Distributions and Missing Persons: The Minimum Wage and Unemployed Youth. Econometrica, vol. 51 (November):1677-1698.Finds that if the minimum wage did not exist in 1978, employment among out-of-school young men would have been 7% higher. Also, the average earnings of youth would have been higher.Mincer, Jacob. 1976. Unemployment Effects of Minimum Wages. Journal of Political Economy, vol. 84 (August): S87-S104.Finds that the negative effects of a minimum wage increase are greatest for nonwhite teenagers. Moreover, the disemployment effects on the size of the labor force are greater than the effects on the unemployment rate.Mincy, Ronald B. 1990. Raising the Minimum Wage: Effects on Family Poverty. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 113 (July): 18-25.Finds a significant impact on reducing poverty from an increase in the minimum wage. This is because the disemployment impact falls mainly on teenagers, whose contribution to family income is small.Minimum Wage Study Commission. 1981.Report, 7 vols. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.Concludes that a 10% increase in the minimum wage will reduce teenage employment by 1%-3%.Moore, Thomas G. 1971. The Effect of Minimum Wages on Teenage Unemployment Rates.Journal of Political Economy, vol. 79 (July/August): 897-902.Finds that the minimum wage increases unemployment primarily for nonwhite teenagers.Neumark, David, and Wascher, William. 1992. Employment Effects of Minimum and Subminimum Wages: Panel Data on State Minimum Wage Laws. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 55-81.Finds that a 10% increase in the minimum wage reduces teenage employment by 1% to 2%, and a decline of 1.5% to 2% among young adults.Parsons, Donald O. 1980. Poverty and the Minimum Wage. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Finds that the minimum wage mainly reallocates income among low-wage workers, benefiting adult females and hurting teenagers of both sexes.Peterson, John M. 1957. Employment Effects of Minimum Wages, 1938-50. Journal of Political Economy, vol. 65 (October): 412-430.One of the first empirical studies to show that minimum wages reduce employment.Peterson, John M. 1981. Minimum Wages: Measures and Industry Effects. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Calculates the impact of the minimum wage on different industries. The negative employment effects primarily impact low-wage industries such as retailing.Peterson, John M., and Stewart, Charles T., Jr. 1969. Employment Effects of Minimum Wage Rates. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Summarizes a large number of studies finding negative employment effects from minimum wages.Phillips, Llad. 1981. Some Aspects of the Social Pathological Behavior Effects of Unemployment among Young People. In Rottenberg (1981a): 174-190.Finds that primary impact of minimum wage is on young males, especially black males. This has encouraged continued school enrollment and entry into the armed forces. However, it has also encouraged "illegitimate" alternatives to employment, such as crime.Ragan, James F., Jr. 1977. Minimum Wages and the Youth Labor Market. Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 59 (May): 129-136.Confirms that higher minimum wage rates reduce youth employment and increases youth unemployment rates, especially for nonwhite males.Ragan, James F., Jr. 1981. The Effect of a Legal Minimum Wage on the Pay and Employment of Teenage Students and Nonstudents. In Rottenberg (1981a): 11-41.Because the minimum wage reduces employment for teenagers, government funds spent on job training for teenagers must be counted as part of the cost of the minimum wage.Rosa, Jean-Jacques. 1981. The Effect of Minimum Wage Regulation in France. In Rottenberg (1981a): 357-376.Finds that the minimum wage reduces employment of youth in France, especially males.Rottenberg, Simon. 1981a. The Economics of Legal Minimum Wages. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Collection of papers.Rottenberg, Simon. 1981b. Minimum Wages in Puerto Rico. In Rottenberg (1981a): 327-339.Finds that the minimum wage has caused massive disemployment in Puerto Rico and lowered the overall standard of living.Smith, Ralph E., and Vavrichek, Bruce. 1987. The Minimum Wage: Its Relation to Incomes and Poverty. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 110 (June): 24-30.Finds that 70% of workers earning the minimum wage in 1985 lived in families in which at least one other member held a job. Also, teenagers held almost one-third of all jobs paying the minimum wage.Smith, Ralph E., and Vavrichek, Bruce. 1992. The Mobility of Minimum Wage Workers.Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 46 (October): 82-88.Examines a panel of workers earning the minimum wage in the mid-1980s and finds that over 60% were earning more than the minimum wage a year later, with gains averaging 20%.Sowell, Thomas. 1977. Minimum Wage Escalation. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press.Argues that indexing the minimum wage would magnify its problems.Steindl, Frank G. 1973. The Appeal of Minimum Wage Laws and the Invisible Hand in Government. Public Choice, vol. 14 (Spring): 133-136.Argues that political support for the minimum wage results from the fact that those who benefit from a modest increase will outnumber those who lose.Stigler, George J. 1946. The Economics of Minimum Wage Legislation. American Economic Review, vol. 36 (June): 358-365.Argues that a minimum wage will reduce output and decrease the earnings of the poor.Tauchen, George E. 1981. Some Evidence on Cross-Sector Effects of the Minimum Wage.Journal of Political Economy, vol. 89 (June): 529-547.Finds that increases in the minimum wage tend to lower wages for those in uncovered sectors, because there is increased demand for uncovered jobs from those no longer employable at the minimum wage.Taylor, Lowell J. 1993. The Employment Effect in Retail Trade of a Minimum Wage: Evidence from California. Washington: Employment Policies Institute.Criticizes Card (1992b).Trapani, John M., and Moroney, J.R. 1981. The Impact of Federal Minimum Wage Laws on Employment of Seasonal Cotton farm Workers. In Rottenberg (1981a): 233-246.Finds that extension of the minimum wage to seasonal cotton workers in 1966 led to a substitution of mechanical processes for labor.Vandenbrink, Donna C. 1987. The Minimum Wage: No Minor Matter for Teens. Economic Perspectives, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, vol. 11 (March/April): 19-28.Finds large reductions in teenage employment from an increase in the minimum wage.Van Giezen, Robert W. 1994. Occupational Wages in the Fast-Food Industry. Monthly Labor Review, vol. 117 (August): 24-30.Shows that wages in the fast-food industry are closely tied to the minimum wage.Welch, Finis. 1974. Minimum Wage Legislation in the United States. Economic Inquiry, vol. 12 (September): 285-318.Finds that the minimum wage has reduced employment, especially among teenagers; it has made teenagers more vulnerable to the business cycle; and has forced teenagers out of covered occupations into those not covered by the minimum wage.Welch, Finis. 1978. Minimum Wages: Issues and Evidence. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Finds that those primarily affected by the minimum wage are the aged, teenagers, and part-time workers.Welch, Finis, and Cunningham, James. 1978. Effects of Minimum Wages on the Level and Age Composition of Youth Employment. Review of Economics and Statistics, vol. 60 (February): 140-145.Finds that in 1970 the minimum wage reduced employment of 14-15 year olds by 46%, by 27% for those 16-17, and by 15% for those 18-19.Wessels, Walter J. 1980. Minimum Wages, Fringe Benefits, and Working Conditions. Washington: American Enterprise Institute.Finds that increases in the minimum wage lead to a reduction in fringe benefits and a deterioration of working conditions.West, E.G. 1980. The Unsinkable Minimum Wage. Policy Review (Winter): 83-95.Argues that economists should do a better job of explaining the negative effects of the minimum wage.Williams, Walter. 1977a. Government Sanctioned Restraints that Reduce Economic Opportunities for Minorities. Policy Review(Fall): 7-30.Argues that minimum wage laws have had a disproportionately negative effect on black teenagers.Williams, Walter. 1977b. Youth and Minority Unemployment. Study prepared for the Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress. Joint Committee Print, 95th Congress, 1st session. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office.Points out that in 1947, prior to expansion of the minimum wage, black teenage unemployment was actually lower than white teenage unemployment, and that teenage unemployment generally was sharply lower than it is today.

1 Million Dollars: Pennywise Pound Poor Deficit Reduction Ideas

 Remember this scene from the Austin Powers movie?

A parity of our political leaders discussion of budget cuts and tackling the deficit? This especially reminds me of the political posturing we get from the right and the left (like in a recent NYT article) discussing cuts to farm subsidies. Cutting the entire farm program budget amounts to less than 1/2 of 1 % of total government spending. Given the problems with medicare and social security, it seems like it costs us more to simply discuss farm subsidies than what we will ever end up saving through cuts. Some groups like the EWG have spent a lot of resources tracking farm subsidy data. Why? I guarantee it is not a fiscally minded agenda. They are more concerned with politically correct agriculture than sustainable farms or government, and I guarantee if subsidies were redirected to organic and local backyard production, the EWG data base would probably go away while the deficit grows and the check is in the mail for wealthy special interests.

Have Ethanol Subsidies Impacted Food Prices?

"Using the 2004 corn price of $2.06 per bushel as a reference, actual corn prices increased by an average of $1.65 per bushel from 2006 to 2009. Only 14 cents (8%) of this increase was due to ethanol subsidies. Another 45 cents of the increase was due to market-based expansion of the corn ethanol industry. Together, expansion of corn ethanol from subsidies and market forces accounted for 36% of the average increase that we saw in corn prices from 2006 to 2009. All other market factors accounted for 64% of the corn price increase."  Read more here.

The Impact of Ethanol and Ethanol Subsidies on Corn Prices: Revisiting History
by Bruce A. Babcock and Jacinto F. Fabiosa. Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. Iowa State University.

Do we get more energy out of ethanol than it takes to make it?

"Overall then, ethanol has made the transition from an energy sink, to a moderate net energy gain in the 1990s, to a substantial net energy gain in the present."

2008 Energy Balance for the Corn-Ethanol Industry. USDA

DTN/The Progressive Farmer Agriculture iPad App

The best ap I've ever used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41nyOXpnNXo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Regulating Commerce

Given the recent talk from the department of transportation regarding the possibility of requiring farmers and ranchers to have commercial drivers licenses, I thought I'd revisit some the flawed ideas related to the commerce clause.  As it is, one of the regulator's primary concerns is if agricultural activity in this sense constitutes 'interstate commerce.'

In the case Wickard v. Filburn (1942) the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was found to be constitutional. This was on the basis that congress had a right to ‘regulate commerce.’
The power to ‘regulate commerce’ can be found  article 1 Section 8 of the constitution. It is listed as one of the enumerated powers of the constitution: 

‘To regulate Commerce with the foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;’

In this case a farmer’s crop was being taxed because he produced more than was allowed under the AAA. His defense was that the federal government had no power or business telling him what he could grow on his private property in his state. 

The court concluded that even though his crop was grown on his land in his state, it was possible that after he sold it, it could be marketed with grain harvested by other producers across the country. As a result this was considered ‘interstate commerce’ and could be regulated or taxed. The court did not give any more specific definition of ‘interstate commerce’ and set a precedent that if an activity could be considered ‘interstate commerce’ in theory, then it was subject to federal jurisdiction.  
Was the court’s decision consistent with what was written in the constitution and our founder’s intentions? How broad did they interpret the power to regulate commerce?
What was meant by regulating congress among the several states?

In Federalist # 45 we read the following:

‘The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the state governments are numerous and indefinite.’
‘The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the state.’

It appears here that our founders never intended for the federal government to be very involved with business and agriculture in the states. The Wickard interpretation is very broad. It does not seem consistent with the idea that the powers of the federal government are few or defined. It is obvious that this decision is contrary to our founder’s idea of limited government. 

If we read Federalist # 41, six powers of the federal government are identified and explained.  Two of these described the federal government’s relationship with regard to interstate commerce. 

‘Maintenance and Harmony and proper intercourse among the states.’
‘Restraint of the states from certain injurious acts.’

 To put this in context, after the American Revolution, some of the states were imposing tariffs on each other. The purpose of the interstate commerce clause was to prevent these kinds of ‘injurious acts’ so that trade and ‘proper intercourse’ could take place between the states. The founders never intended that the federal government should  have the power to control every aspect of trade that occurred in or even between the states. 

Given this history and the state of fear that our founders had of a powerful government, they would have never ratified the constitution if they thought ‘to regulate commerce’ meant congress would have the power to intervene in private business based on nothing more than a theoretical connection to interstate commerce. Wickard v Filburn lead to a huge expansion of power unanticipated by our founders, and a transfer of power away from the people and states without their consent.The purpose of the constitution was to ensure that the government did very little without the consent of the governed. Court cases like these leave us defensless. 


As quoted from Ayn Rand’s book  Atlas Shrugged  ‘ …the government’s plans cannot be held up by the matter of your consent.’

Re-printed from my AgWeb post: http://www.agweb.com/blog/Economic_Sense_190/Regulating_Commerce_Agricultural_History_18256/