Food and Agriculture

I am still combing through the 1,000 page, $1 trillion farm bill to figure out what it means for US development and trade policy. Here’s my quick take. 

The Economist’s take on the Give Directly evaluation argues that unconditional cash transfers (UCT) “don’t deal with the deeper causes of poverty.”  The article cites Baird and co-authors’ review showing that vigorously enforced condit...

Rising commodity prices and tight government budgets are adding to pressures to reduce subsidies for energy and agriculture in many countries. Two new reports, including my recent paper on agricultural and biofuel subsidies, provide fodder for this debate by documenting the extent of subsi...