GOVERNMENT POLICY IN SUPPORT OF DOMESTIC AGRICULTURE: COSTS AND BENEFITS The European Community

Two quotations from Corden (1974) express well opinions widely held among economists belonging to the broad neoclassical tradition about European agricultural policy, particularly the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Economic Community (EEC). It is protectionist: "Historically, one of the main reasons for the imposition of protective tariffs in the now-advanced countries has been to prevent changes in internal income distribution that would otherwise have taken place as a result of market forces." It is outdated and should be revised: "The two outstanding cases (of the senescent industry argument) are the protection of continental European agriculture since the late nineteenth century and the worldwide protection of the textile industry in recent years." In this perspective it is legitimate to ask: how was such a policy orientation chosen and maintained since the latter 19th century? And, what are the implications of such a choice, particularly what are the cost