Macroeconomic Policy Research: Discussion

I am pleased to participate in this invited paper session and strongly endorse what I perceive to be the premise underlying the session; namely, that we as a profession need to focus more of our teaching, research, and extension resources on the "macroeconomics of agriculture." This point was eloquently made by Ed Schuh at these very meetings some fifteen years ago. Schuh's point was that our sectoral heritage and research emphasis "has caused neglect of the linkages of agriculture with the rest of the economy," and that "if there has been one major failing over the years, it has been this failure to grasp fully the macroeconomics of agriculture (p. 810). While the profession has made some strides in macroeconomic policy research as it applies to agriculture over the last fifteen years, the task is a never-ending one, and the field does not suffer from overcrowding. The title of this session is "Improving Macroeconomic Policy Considerations in Agricultural Research and Education." With this in mind, let me make some remarks about the paper I am supposed to discuss, one or two remarks about the paper I was not asked to discuss, and finally present a few thoughts on the topic addressed by this session.