ABSTRACT
This paper contains ct brief historical summary of cotton programs and notes the shifts through time in production control/price support mechanisms. Producers as a group have benefitted in the short run from participation in cotton programs, both directly from price supports and direct payments and indirectly through higher market prices. The longer-term effects are still unclear. Since the cotton programs in recent years have featured direct payments, most of the program costs have been borne by taxpayers rather than consumers.
|