JSPES, Vol. 36, No. 3 (Fall 2011)
pp. 301-317

The Economic Impact of Agricultural Subsidies in the United States

Justin Spittler, Robert Ross, Walter Block

Loyola University, New Orleans

The purpose of this paper is to examine the negative impacts of governmental corn subsidies on the American and global economies. This paper’s analysis will examine how such policies, which were first passed in 1921, enable the United States government to manipulate the supply of corn, and thus directly influence international food prices. Specifically, the focus will be on the various externalities and long-term consequences associated with this policy, including inefficiencies in the global market for food, the rise of government sponsored monopolies in the agriculture industry, the negative health implications of diets heavily weighted in corn and corn derivatives, and the prevalence of ethanol as an inferior alternative to carbon-based fuel sources.