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A Quarter Century of Agricultural Economics in Retrospect and in Prospect*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2015

Extract

A philosopher once said that history should be studied because the past repeats itself, but I prefer the statement that those who do not sudy history are condemned to repeating it. I also like the quote at the National Archives: The past is “prologue.” When a tourist asked what this meant, a Washington taxi driver said, “It means you ain't seen nothing yet.” That was in 1950. He was right. Who in 1950 expected to see sputniks, satellites, and men walking on the moon?

We entered the 1950–1975 era thinking that agricultural economics consisted of: (1) production economics, (2) marketing, (3) price analysis, (4) agricultural policy, and (5) land economics. We are leaving it thinking that it covers: (1) commercial agriculture, (2) natural resources development, and (3) human and community development.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1975

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Footnotes

*

The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the Cooperative State Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

References

[1] Cooperative State Research Service. “Funds for Research at State Agricultural Experiment Stations,” Series 1950-1973.Google Scholar
[2] Robinson, Roland R.. “A Search for a Rationale in the Allocation of Experiment Station Research Resources,” unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, 1972.Google Scholar
[3] Smith, Glenn R.. “Has Social Science Research at the Experiment Stations Increased in Line with Society's Needs and Congressional Intent?American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 55:667669, November 1973.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
[4] James, Nielson. “Accountability and Innovation: Challenges for Agricultural Economists,” AAEA Presidential Address, August 1974, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 56:865877, December 1974.Google Scholar