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New Deal Regulation and Revolution in American Farms
Sally Clarke introduces her article, "New Deal Regulation and the Revolution in American Farm Productivity," with a brief description of the generally accepted views on government regulation and its role in the American economy from 1900 to 1940. The author points out that a generally negative view is taken of regulation, as it has had many disastrous consequences. However, in the second paragraph she explains how, while there are definite concerns relating to the burden to taxpayers and commodity markets resulting from farm regulation, this same regulation in the 1930s made possible the acquisition of labor-saving machinery.
The thesis of Clarke's article relates to the reasons for which farmers who did not invest in labor-saving machinery during the 1920s did eventually do so during the 1930s. She demonstrates that the Commodity Credit Corporation and the Farm Credit Administration facilitated these investments through regulation. The thesis statement is:
argue that prior to the 1930s, financial barriers slowed the adoption of new technology. Regulation contributed directly to the revolution in farm productivity because New Deal policies mitigated these barriers.
The conclusion is three-fold. Firstly, in the case of farming it is found that regulation stimulated investments in labor-saving...
Secondly, the roles of the CCC and the FCA in the farmers' investment strategy are recognized.
Finally Clarke states that the economic impact of government regulation interfered with market forces in ways that did not always benefit the economy of the country.
Clarke makes several points to advance her argument. Firstly she points out that high sales figures for tractors starting in World War I may be misleading, as they do not focus on the farmers who might potentially have bought tractors and did not. When calculating the relative number of farmers potentially benefiting from purchasing tractors, Clarke finds that fewer farmers in the Corn Belt than expected owned tractors in 1929.
This advances the argument that economic factors led to a reluctance to invest in new technology during this time. The author further reinforces the point by citing the farmers' tendency to protect assets due to the instability of commodity markets. Later Clarke demonstrates that the CCC and FCA provided farmers with attractive loan options and thus with the means to acquire tractors.
Clarke uses as evidence historical documents such as bulletins by researchers at land grant universities, which show the cash-flow strategies used by…
Bibliography
Clarke, Sally. "New Deal Regulation and the Revolution in American Farm Productivity: A Case Study of the Diffusion of the Tractor in the Corn Belt, 1920-1940." The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 51, No. 1 (March 1991), 101-123.
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