International Economic Disintegration by Wilhelm Röpke

Author:Wilhelm Röpke [Wilhelm Röpke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-61016-278-4
Publisher: William Hodge and Company, Limited
Published: 1942-11-06T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER XII

THE METHODS OF AGRARIANIZATION AND AGRICULTURAL NATIONALISM

THE way in which agricultural nationalism, driven by the forces explained in the preceding chapter, is trying to achieve its ambitious aims presents a special subject worthy of a penetrating analysis. Its interest for our study lies not so much in the picture it offers of the technique of economic policy, as in the fact that the development of new methods truly indicates not only the excessive character of modern agricultural nationalism, but also its immense difficulties, contradictions, conflicts, and complexities.

In general, the methods of modern agricultural nationalism developed in such a way as to complete the traditional policy of protection, which was based principally on the instrument of import duties, and replace it more and more by new means which largely belong to the category of “non-conformable” measures and involve agriculture increasingly in a system of planning of production, marketing, the formation of prices, capital and labour supply, imports and exports. Studying this development, we are able to see once more how the first steps along the road to planning and “non-conformable” interventionism inevitably lead further and further in that direction, how unforeseen new problems and complications always arise, and how these demand ever bolder measures. There is, however, practically no country on the map which can say with all sincerity that by following this road of modern agricultural nationalism it has reached a stable and half-way satisfactory situation, and there is no government which, looking complacently on its agricultural policy, can exclaim with Faust: “Ah, still delay—thou art so fair!”

To give a complete account of this development for the different countries and different branches of agriculture is a task which is quite obviously beyond the scope of this book. It would fill a number of large volumes and leave the reader bewildered by a maze of technicalities. What has to be done here, is to try to find in the complex material some illuminating points of a general character and thereby bring some logical order into it.

One way of doing this, is to attempt to classify the agricultural policies of the different countries in larger groups according to their economic structure, their prevailing aims or the methods preferred.1 In this respect there is, among others, the fundamental difference between the agricultural policy of the agricultural-import countries and that of the agricultural-export countries, which, in its turn, can be sub-divided into several groups. The specific methods of agricultural policy developed in the latter countries are, indeed, to be understood as more or less successful attempts at solving the special and formidable problem of giving protection and stability to the agriculture of a country which is on an agricultural-export basis. Another interesting classification could be made according to the degree (1) in which methods of collectivist planning, state control of production and even of socialized farming have been applied in the different countries, and (2) in which the substance or at least the form of individual farm ownership and initiative have been preserved.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.