American farmers are supposed to make a living raising and marketing crops and livestock, and many full-time farmers are very good at doing just that. They are also effective at obtaining income through the generosity of their elected representatives at the expense of taxpayers. The main farm subsidy programs were introduced in the 1930s when many dirt-poor Dust Bowl farmers were in dire straits, as, of course, were many Depression-decimated families in the cities. Since the end of World War II, however, farmers and their families have substantially improved their absolute and relative economic stations. The average farm family currently earns substantially more income than the average nonfarm family and is much wealthier. Moreover, debt-to-asset ratios are far lower among family farm businesses than family-owned mainstreet businesses-or, for that matter, most large corporations-and have been much lower for most of the last thirty years.
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Join New York Times columnist David Brooks as he engages the authors of “Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience” Sally Satel and Scott Lilienfeld, in a discussion of popular neuroscience.
Please join us for a preview of the revised and updated edition of Jonathan Nuechterlein and Philip Weiser’s influential 2005 book “Digital Crossroads: Telecommunications Law and Policy in the Internet Age” (MIT Press).
At this event, three expert panelists will examine this relationship from the perspectives of influential philosophers such as Aristotle, Alexis de Tocqueville, and representatives of the Scottish Enlightenment.
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At this event, Bennett and Wilezol will present their book, higher education finance experts Richard George and Richard Vedder will provide discussion, and a coffee reception and book signing will follow.
Join General Michael Hayden (ret.), AEI’s Marc Thiessen, and other leading experts in national security for a panel discussion on the significance of the NSA leaks.
Please join us for an event celebrating the release of Glenn Hubbard and Tim Kane’s “Balance: The Economics of Great Powers from Ancient Rome to Modern America” (Simon & Schuster, May 2013).
In light of the emerging Internal Revenue Service scandal, Senator McConnell will again join AEI to comment on the use of government power to stifle speech and will propose solutions that protect the individual rights that are guaranteed to all citizens of the United States.
