Mandated agricultural commodity promotion programs - such as «Got Milk» - are highly visible, economically important, and controversial. In recent years, these programs have spent more than $1 billion on generic commodity promotion. They are authorized by producer referenda and funded using mandatory commodity taxes on producers and/or handlers. These programs have been the subject of much dispute and litigation, especially in California, which is home to a large number of them. This book takes a comprehensive look at the economic consequences and the resulting legal implications of commodity promotion programs in California, and distills the key consequences for similar programs on a national scale.

The effects of obesity have become practically ubiquitous in the US. This book aims to provide an alternative framework through which to explore the important and controversial obesity debate that has spilled over from the medical community. This book is not about obesity as a medical condition, nor does it offer a wide-ranging discussion on the health effects of obesity or the role of the 'right' diet.

The Dispute Settlement Reports of the World Trade Organization (WTO) include Panel and Appellate Body reports, as well as arbitration awards, in disputes concerning the rights and obligations of WTO members under the provisions of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization. DSR 2015: Volume 11 reports on: United States - Measures Concerning the Importation, Marketing and Sale of Tuna and Tuna Products - Recourse to Article 21.5 of the DSU by Mexico (WT/DS381), United States - Countervailing Duty Measures on Certain Products from China - Arbitration under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU (WT/DS437/16), United States - Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Shrimp from Viet Nam - Arbitration under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU(WT/DS429/12), Peru - Additional Duty on Imports of Certain Agricultural Products - Arbitration under Article 21.3(c) of the DSU (WT/DS457/15) and United States - Certain Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) Requirements - Recourse to Article 22.6 of the DSU (WT/DS384, WT/DS386).

Published continuously since 1972, Agricultural Product Prices has become the standard textbook and reference work for students in agricultural and applied economics, buyers and sellers of commodities, and policymakers, clearly explaining conceptual and empirical models applicable to agricultural product markets. The new fifth edition uses up-to-date information and models to explain the behavior of agricultural product prices. Topics include price differences over market levels (marketing margins), price differences over space (regionally and internationally) and by quality attributes, and price variability with the passage of time (seasonal and cyclical variations, trends, and random behavior). William G. Tomek and Harry M. Kaiser review and adapt microeconomic principles to the characteristics of agricultural commodity markets and then apply these principles to the various dimensions of price behavior. They also provide an in-depth discussion of prices established for futures contracts and their relationship to cash (spot) market prices; cover the influential roles of price discovery institutions, such as auctions and negotiated contracts, and government policies regulating trade and farms; and discuss the specification, use, and evaluation of empirical models of agricultural prices, placing emphasis on the challenges of doing high-quality, useful analyses and interpreting results.

The federal government wastes your tax dollars worse than a drunken sailor on shore leave. The 1984 Grace Commission uncovered that the Department of Defense spent $640 for a toilet seat and $436 for a hammer. Twenty years later things weren't much better. In 2004, Congress spent a record-breaking $22.9 billion dollars of your money on 10,656 of their pork-barrel projects. The war on terror has a lot to do with the record $413 billion in deficit spending, but it's also the result of pork over the last 18 years the likes of: - $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa - $102 million to study screwworms which were long ago eradicated from American soil - $273,000 to combat goth culture in Missouri - $2.2 million to renovate the North Pole (Lucky for Santa!) - $50,000 for a tattoo removal program in California - $1 million for ornamental fish research Funny in some instances and jaw-droppingly stupid and wasteful in others, The Pig Book proves one thing about Capitol Hill: pork is king!