Suchergebnisse

The development of agribusiness is followed from its original function of creating the entire subsistence of the farm family to its absorption into worldwide business corporations. Original settlers in North America produced, processed, & consumed their own food, made many of their own tools, provided their own animal power, & were self-sufficient with very little left over to sell. However, the industrial revolution & England's desire to trade with its colonies produced incentives to produce an increasing surplus of food. Middleman businesses emerged that processed & transported food & fiber throughout the country & the world. At first there was a multistage food system in which hundreds of companies competed for the farmer's products. This was followed by the horizontal & vertical integration of companies, which changed the power structure in agriculture. The large corporations were able to dominate the capital resources, control the food system, & set low prices, which contributed to the decline of the family farm & the farming community. The authors trace the development of the various companies in their process of growth, consolidation, & globalization. 1 Table. L. A. Hoffman

Various issues addressing whether the financial assets of Americans have increased, racial differences between households have affected asset accumulation, & the wealth accumulation of families in different classes have actually fallen during the 1990s are examined. Data from the 1983, 1989, 1992, 1995, & 1998 Surveys of Consumer Finances was analyzed to address the aforementioned issues. Several findings are reported: whereas the wealthiest segment of the population has experienced significant gains in assets since 1983, middle-class families have seen very small increases; although wealth inequality has risen during the 1990s, it has happened at a slower pace than during the 1980s; the disproportionate ratio of African American families' mean wealth in relation to Anglo American families has remained relatively stable; financial savings for middle-class families decreased during the 1990s; & the median financial wealth for Latino American families remained unchanged between 1983 & 1998. Additional results that compare the findings from this study with those reached in other similar analyses are reported. It is concluded that designing policy that encourages asset ownership could facilitate poor families' achievement of financial well-being. 15 Tables, 27 References. J. W. Parker