ABSTRACT
This chapter looks into some of the more transparent welfare subsidies. The subsidies of American agriculture are far larger and more consequential. The essence of socialism is to hide the true cost of things so that economic decisions are based on distorted prices and are therefore inherently foolish and wasteful. Subsidies to farmers to plant crops and to raise livestock obviously raise the value of agricultural land as long as it remains in agriculture. The United States and Western Europe enjoy today by far the most sumptuous standard of living that the world has ever known. The number of decisions that are now embedded in our national tax code, both for corporations and for individuals, is the stuff of legend. The chapter focuses on several of the most noticeable and significant distortions that the federal government engineers.
