The Capacity of the United States to Supply Food for Developing Countries

Excerpt: Much of the confusion about our own productive capacity stems from viewing capacity in a fixed, physical sense rather than in variable, economic terms. Let us analyze the farm capacity of the United States in dynamic and economic terms. In so doing, four factors should be kept in mind: (1) the time period under consideration, (2) the levels of prices received by farmers, (3) the mix of farm products that is desired, and (4) the amount of public and private investment in future productive capacity.