Reality is Keynesian

Keynesian economics, when applied to agriculture, is the most realistic and relevant framework for how our society functions. It is ridiculous to argue that the economy and business is regulated primarily on supply and demand, for there are so many government manipulations and control of the agricultural sector that determine the economic cycle. The existence of subsidies, taxes and other regulatory factors indicates the usage of Keynesian economics in modern business culture. This theory applies to the agriculture sector strongly. Omnivores Dilemma outlines this, giving solid examples of the problems that arise when neoliberalism is the attitude applied toward economics. It creates serious problems for farmers, consumers and the environment, while only benefitting the corporations that maintain their control of the markets. Agricultural business (namely in the United States) is also not limited to a supply and demand framework. An example is the current dairy production in the U.S. Milk is being overproduced, with much of the product being thrown away when consumers do not purchase it in high enough volume. http://www.nyfoodmuseum.org/milk/a_real_showdown.php outlines this problem, how milk prices are not falling with the overproduction, and the production is not based on the current demand.

The United States is known for having a more laissez-faire approach to economics, but it is ridiculous to assert that there is no regulation in our economy, including the economic sector. It is a reality that corporations involved in food production have various standards, taxes and other regulatory efforts that they have to follow, all with good reason and importance for protection of consumers and farmers. Without it, our food would be a much lower quality and likely plagued with dangerous additives. In the early 2000's, a manufacturer of baby formula and dog food in China were discovered to have been adding melamine to their food products, a chemical that falsely inflates the protein reading of a food product, thus making it more marketable. They faced serious consequences when this addition was discovered, as it made thousands of babies who consumed the formula with melamine very ill and kill some dogs who had it added to their dog food. Without government intervention and regulatory standards, corporations in the United States would do the exact same thing. Food, which is an essential for survival of humans, is seen as merely an opportunity for profit by big corporations. Government regulation is also essential for protection of the environment and the farmers. Monsanto has made many farmers lives a living hell to deal with their various patents on seeds and other products, but they lack a monopoly on the market (which I am sure they would have no opposition to having) due to government regulation.

Neoliberalism is a concept that would be ideal provided that greed did not exist. Regulation would not be a necessary evil if corporations did not need to be controlled and maintained to avoid their greed from spiraling out of control. While in omnivores dilemma, this seems to be the assertion of what is actually going on, it is important to recognize that government influence does exist and has minimized some of the impacts of corporate greed in the agricultural industry. In Omnivore's Dilemma, this issue is outlined by the fact that corporations (i.e. McDonald's) are willing to lower their standards as much as possible to maintain maximum profits, putting money over their customers. Without Keynesian ideals being implemented, this would be the norm and all consumers would suffer greatly at the hands of the corporations.