17,394
edits
Changes
Agricultural Adjustment Administration (view source)
Revision as of 16:29, September 1, 2009
, 16:29, September 1, 2009→Unconstitutional: add
The production cutbacks worked; farm prices shot up (and city food prices rose a little), restoring prosperity to the farm sector well before the problems of the cities were solved.
The production cutbacks worked; farm prices shot up (and city food prices rose a little), restoring prosperity to the farm sector well before the problems of the cities were solved.
==Unconstitutional==
==Unconstitutional and 2nd AAA==
In the two years of the first AAA’s existence it distributed some $700 million to farmers to restrict production and keep farm prices high.
In the two years of the first AAA’s existence it distributed some $700 million to farmers to restrict production and keep farm prices high.
The AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in the case United States v. Butler ''et al''. (297 U.S. 1, January 6, 1936) because it gave the Executive branch powers that belonged to Congress. Congress then rewrote the law, creating a '''second AAA''' that achieved part of the original Act's goals with the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 until the enactment of a second AAA (P.L. 75-430) on February 16, 1938. This second AAA was funded from general taxation, and therefore acceptable to the Supreme Court.
The first AAA was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the case United States v. Butler ''et al''. (297 U.S. 1, January 6, 1936) because it gave too much power to the Executive branch. In 1937 Congress then rewrote the law, creating a '''second AAA''' that achieved part of the original Act's goals with the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act of 1936 until the enactment of a second AAA (P.L. 75-430) on February 16, 1938. This second AAA was funded from general taxation, and therefore acceptable to the Supreme Court. It represented a bipartisan approach, as did the addition of an "ever normal granary" program in 1938. By 1940 Republicans and Democrats were in general agreement on farm policy. During World War II, all restrictions were ended and farmers were encouraged to plant as much as possible. However there was a price cap--100% parity--which angered farmers who saw a bonanza if their prices had been allowed to skyrocket.
==Impact==
The acreage cutbacks of the first AAA led many farmers to be more efficient in their use of the remaining acres. Except for cotton, where output fell 17%, the total output did not change much. The move to efficiency was a gain, but there was inefficiency as farmers became protective of their allotments and mismanaged their resources to getter larger payments. For example, cotton farmers in the east held on to cotton too long, to protect their allotments and subsidies.<ref> Theodore W. Schultz, ''Agriculture in an Unstable Economy'' (1945) p. 174. </ref>
==Communist influence==
==Communist influence==