ABSTRACT
The upshot was a new, neoliberal pattern of strong country growth, in which governments tried to combine regulation and market discipline to keep control over increasingly fragmented societies. For agro-industrial companies, it remained attractive to leave farming to small businesses that depended on cheap labour, whether they were self-employed or larger-than-self-employed enterprises. Carl Taylor and John Black, the founding fathers of the agricultural economics discipline in the United States, were inspired by the Institutional School of Economics. The reform plan suggested that direct payments would be made conditional on farmers respecting environmental and animal-welfare standards. While the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture allowed Europe and the United States to disguise dumping through direct payments, it forced other countries to reduce their import protection. Advocates of trade liberalization often contended that opening markets in developing countries would benefit the poor, most of whom were net food buyers who would benefit from cheap food imports.
