Transcript 区域发展专业英语

English Course for rural
region development
Yunnan Agricultural university
Zhao Junquan PhD
Unit1 Agricultural Economics
Agricultural economics may be defined
as applied social science dealing. With
how humans choose to use technical
knowledge and scarce productive
resources such as land, labor, capital,
and management to produce food and
fiber
and
to
distribute
it
for
consumption to various members of
society over time.
Like economics, agricultural economics
seeks to discover cause-effect relationships.
It uses the scientific method and economic
theory to find answers to problems in
agriculture
and
agribusiness.
The following rapid growth in the ranks of
professional agricultural economists, and
the ever-increasing public use of their
special talents, bear testimony to the
foresight of those early pioneering theorists.
Most beginning students probably have
only a vague concept of agricultural
economics.
For the student, it is a blend of many
subject areas. An agricultural economics
curriculum ordinarily includes classes in
technical agriculture, science, statistics,
mathematics, business, general economics,
and other social sciences. Students taking a
curriculum in agricultural economics may
major in such areas as farm management,
production
economics,
agricultural
marketing, agricultural policy, finance,
economic development, natural resources,
and community development or public
affairs.
Unit2 The Farm and Food
System
Agriculture is an integral part of the general
economic system. We subdivide our national
economy so that the fundamental structure
can be seen. Producing firms and consumers
are the central economic units in the system.
Many people are concerned about corporate
activity in agriculture because of the
economic consequences that could occur
with concentrated resource control.
As a result, some states have attempted to
limit the growth of corporation farming.
Laws passed in several states prohibit
corporate farming. Statutes restricting
corporate farming have been enacted in
several other states. Some states have laws
requiring corporations to report the land that
they own in the state. More than one-half of
the states also have laws restricting
ownership of real property by aliens, with a
great deal of variation in the restraints
provided by these laws as they are applied
to alien ownership of property. Many
producers are concerned about farming
corporations because they think corporations
are more efficient and that their size gives
them market advantages, which may put the
family-farm operators at a competitive
disadvantage.
Farmers
believe
capital
markets, volume buying of production inputs,
and volumes selling of output afford
advantages to corporate farms that are not
available to them. However, most studies
show that moderate-sized family farms are as
efficient as most corporate farms. With this
situation plus the generally low returns to
agricultural investments, one would expect
very little growth in corporate agriculture.
Unit3 Consumer Behavior and
Demand
This chapter concentrates only on
households, or consumers, and the
behavior of people in meeting their desire
for goods and services. It is in the
observed market behavior of people that
the concept of demand rests. While
demand will be specifically discussed later
in the chapter, suffice it to say at this point
that demand means the quantities of a
product bought at alternative prices
holding everything else constant.
When consumer behavior is studied, certain
characteristics can be noted. One feature is
that consumers spend everything they earn
on goods and services, including savings.
Another is that consumers never seem to get
enough of most things. We can infer from
this characteristic of consumer behavior that
human wants are insatiable and that more is
preferred
to
less.
One of the reasons consumers do not buy
infinite quantities of everything is that they
have a limited amount of money income. In
economics, we assume that consumers,
with a given money income, will purchase
clothing, housing, food, haircuts, and all
the other things that they want in amounts
that will maximize utility or satisfaction for
them. The utility of a product or service is
derived from the inherent characteristics
or qualities that cause them to be desired.
These may be objective or subjective
qualities.
But it is unlikely that two individuals
would attain the same utility or
satisfaction from the consumption of the
same amount of a product.
Unit4 Value Relationship
We then are directed to comparing the
values of products with the values of
inputs used Lip in their production. As
a first step, a couple of assumptions
will be useful and even a bit realistic: (1)
There are so many firms producing this
product that the actions of any one firm
will have no influence whatsoever on
either input or product prices; and
(2) that the market does not differentiate one
firm's product from that of another, that is,
the firms produce a homogeneous product.
Thus if a corn producer were to shut down
completely or, alternatively, to produce the
last possible extra bushel of corn, the market
price of corn would not be affected. And
provided that the corn meets certain quality
standards, one producer's corn will not be
discriminated against or offered a premium
over that of other firms producing corn.
Our assumption about unchanging prices
"vas valid
regarding individual firth decisions, but
that doesn't mean that we are unable to
cope with changing resource and product
prices, or that we even expect them to
remain unchanged. Change is a fact of life,
in markets as in anything else. Changing
economic conditions, in total market
supply and demand cause frequent price
adjustments in both resource and product
markets. So our optimum is correct, not for
all time, but only until another price change
occurs, then an adjustment in X, use must
again be made to find a new optimum.
Unit5 Producer Decision Making
In the previous chapter, we discussed
the simplest production functions,
specifically: (1) a single, composite,
variable input function with nothing
fixed, and its constant returns; and (2) a
single-variable input function with other
resources
held
constant.
This
functional relationship between a
variable factor and its product is
sometimes referred to as the factorproduct relationship.
Agricultural production decisions are
seldom so simple that the operator can
choose a single crop or single livestock
enterprise as the firm's only product. Crop
farms typically produce two or more
different types of grain crops; stock
ranches frequently produce both livestock
and grain or forage crops, or even two or
more types of livestock. The relationship
between enterprises is referred to as the
product-product relationship. These two
general problem areas-factor factor
and product-product-and the economic
criteria for making these choices, are
dealt with in turn in this chapter.
An enterprise is a specific crop or type
of livestock from which products are
obtained, for example, cotton, wheat,
beef cattle, hogs, or onions. In which to
use the variable resources.
Physical relationships and economic
factors cause producers to choose one
particular set of resources and not some
other combination with which to produce
their products. Basic in this choice is the
interaction between inputs and their
effect on the productivity of the
employed resources as the input mix is
changed.
Unit6 Financial Picture of
Agriculture
This chapter discusses the financial
position of agriculture, sources of farm
credit, the banking system, and how to
compute simple interest rates. The
vitality of agriculture depends on
managers who understand finance and
can apply it to the farm and ranch
business. A balance sheet gives you
some idea of the present financial
position of an individual or business.
A balance sheet gives you some idea of
the present financial position of an
individual or business. It is the result of
all past transactions. A balance sheet is
divided into assets, liabilities, and net
worth.
Most farm credit has been used to
finance farm expansion and higher
production cost items such as farm
machinery and motor vehicles.
The four major institutional farm lender
categories include commercial banks, the
FCS, the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and
insurance
companies.
In
1998,
outstanding numeral estate loans secured
by farm assets totaled about $83 billion.
Commercial banks supplied 52 percent,
the Farm Credit System 19 percent, the
Farm Service Agency 5 percent, and
individuals and others 24 percent.
The Farm Credit System supplied 32
percent of all outstanding real estate debt,
life insurance companies 11 percent,
commercial banks 31 percent, the Farm
Service
Agency
5
percent,
and
individuals 21 percent. Historically,
individuals have been the major source
of funds for land transfers. The Farm
Credit System is the largest lender
involved in the land mortgage field. The
total real estate debt outstanding as of
December 31, 1998, was $87.6 billion.
Unit7 Farmers Home
Administration
• The
Farmers
Home
Administration
primarily provided two types of loans. One
was a guaranteed loan handled by a
private
lender.
Farmers
Home
Administration guaranteed to limit the loss
on the loan to a specified percentage. The
second type was a direct loan by the
Farmers Home Administration. Loan funds
were obtained from insured notes backed
by the government.
It is the result of all past transactions. A
balance sheet is divided into assets,
liabilities, and net worth. Most farm credit
has been used to finance farm expansion
and higher production cost items such as
farm machinery and motor vehicles. The
four major institutional farm lender
categories include commercial banks, the
FCS, the Farm Service Agency (FSA), and
insurance companies. In 1998, outstanding
numeral estate loans secured by farm
assets
totaled
about
$83
billion.
Commercial banks supplied 52 percent,
the Farm Credit System 19 percent, the
Farm Service Agency 5 percent, and
individuals and others 24 percent.
The Farm Credit System supplied 32
percent of all outstanding real estate debt,
life insurance companies 11 percent,
commercial banks 31 percent, the Farm
Service
Agency
5
percent,
and
individuals 21 percent. Historically,
individuals have been the major source
of funds for land transfers.
The Farm Credit System is the largest
lender involved in the land mortgage field.
The total real estate debt outstanding as
of December 31, 1998, was $87.6 billion.
Unit 8 The Banking System
• Agriculture and agricultural financial
institutions do not operate in isolation
from conditions in other sectors of the
economy. The agricultural sector must
compete for available funds with public
and private borrowers from all segments
of the economy. While both monetary and
fiscal policies influence the availability of
loanable funds to agriculture, monetary
policy is of greater concern here.
Fiscal policy is the government policy
regarding expenditures and taxation.
Thus, the government can increase
expenditures of such agencies as the
Farm Service Agency and increase
loanable funds, or restrict credit by
cutting budgets. Also, of course, tax
levels influence the amount of money
available to producers to invest in their
operations. Fiscal policy changes affect
the flow of funds to financial institutions
and therefore affect loanable funds.
These changes also influence business
activity and savings. A tax decrease
tends to stimulate incomes, employment,
and savings; a tax increase will have an
opposite impact on the economic system.
The ability of banks to create or destroy
money as they perform their usual
business has a great deal to do with the
performance
of
the
economy.
Given their potential impact throughout
the system, the activities of the banking
industry must be coordinated so as to
inhibit wide swings in prices and
employment levels.