The development of theory on agricultural income problems springs from empirical investigations showing that agricultural income is unstable over time, and that compared to other trades, it is diminishing. The theorists explain this with the fact that agricultural production factors are relatively rigid, due to lack of alternative application. This in turn means that the necessary adjustment to changes in relative pricing takes place too slowly. One solution would be an improvement to the alternative application of agricultural production factors, through structural policies. The Common Agricultural Policy, which among other things is founded on targeted incomes, works with price policy as a main means, not structural policy. This paper justifies this choice from a historical as well as an economic perspective. Teoridannelsen omkring landbrugets indkomstproblem udspringer af empiriske undersogelser, der viser, at landbrugets indkomster over tid er ustabile og faldende sammenlignet med andre erhverv. Teorierne forklarer dette med, at landbrugets produktionsfaktorer er forholdsvis fastlaste pa grund af en ringe alternativ anvendelsesaerdi. Dette gor, at den nødvendige tilpasning til aendringerne i de relative priser ikke sker hurtigt nok. En losning er en forbedring af den alternative anvendelsesaerdi ved hjaelp af strukturpolitiske foranstaltninger. Den faelles landbrugspolitik, der blandt andet bygger pa en indkomstmalsaetning, arbejder med prispolitik og ikke strukturpolitik som hovedinstrument. Artiklen begrunder dette valg ud fra bade historiske og økonomiske forhold.