Three excellent papers addressing the future of commodity programs were presented at the SAEA Annual Meeting in February 1980. Each has some very important strengths. "Commodity Policy Issues for the 1980s" by Erickson and Johnson is almost encyclopedic in its coverage, while at the same time being issue-oriented and presenting some very pertinent data. Pasour's "A Critique of Federal Agricultural Programs" is an effective assessment of commodity programs as they existed in the past. Goodwin

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... his colleagues do yeoman's work in attempting to defend current programs in "The Future of Federal Programs for Southern Commodities." I assume the contrast between that paper and Pasour's was intentional. Certainly the two of them together help to focus the issues.