Robert Taylor – Organization for Competitive Markets

The End of the Trail for Family Ranchers: Lunch with Louden 7/31/2014

Mike Callicrate — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 03:09:17 +0000

New Politics Podcasts with Coffee Party USA on BlogTalkRadio Do you ever feel like you are not getting the whole story? If you are like me, you can look to your own life situation and know that “the news” often omits important elements that might well change how others perceive the situation. Whether the information is incomplete by oversight or design, it is time for our media to raise the bar. Today on Lunch with Louden I’ll be Read More ...

Special Report: The End of the Trail – How Government Destroyed Free Markets for Family Ranchers

Mike Callicrate — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 22:27:56 +0000

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack’s inaction has led to the near-destruction of American family ranchers. Over 17,000 family ranches will disappear this year. Over 100,000 family ranchers have left the profession since 2009. It’s a tragedy as world-renowned American beef experiences record-high prices, grocery retailers seize increasing shares of beef dollars, meat packers manipulate the beef market and prices paid to ranchers, and the ranchers are denied the rewards resulting from raising the best cattle in the world. Read More ...

Obama’s Game of Chicken

Mike Callicrate — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:25:10 +0000

The untold story of how the administration tried to stand up to big agricultural companies on behalf of independent farmers, and lost. By Lina Khan | Print (PDF) In May 2010, Garry Staples left his chicken farm in Steele, Alabama, to take part in a historic hearing in Normal, an hour and a half away. The decision to go wasn’t easy. The big processing companies that farmers rely on for their livelihood had made it known that even Read More ...

Let’s Look at the Statute. Surprise! It’s Not About Efficiency!

Mike Callicrate — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 23:17:17 +0000

By C. Robert Taylor and David Domina Many academic economists have blinders on: All they see is efficiency, efficiency, efficiency. This is true of recent comments about GIPSA proposed regulations and the Packers & Stockyards Act of 1921. It is also true of numerous economic analyses by government and academic economists. Generations of economists have recognized that economic efficiency is necessarily a value-laden concept, and a particularly narrow view of economic affairs at that. Nevertheless, economists responsible for Read More ...