Economic and Social Indicators for the Farm Sector: Discussion

The topic of this session, the measurement of the social and the economic welfare of the farm sector, is extremely important at a time when major changes in the farm sector and in agricultural policy are being discussed. We had hoped to come here to discuss two papers which would make important intellectual contributions to this field. Unfortunately, our expectations were not realized, and we were somewhat disappointed in the papers. In our judgment, neither of these papers is of sufficient scope or depth to pass the peer review of a reputable journal; however, the issues raised by these papers are important and deserve discussion.