The Public Policy Category, Essay Example

The public policy category I have selected for this assignment is corporate welfare. Corporate subsidies come about in two different ways, the most debated of which is a result of subsidies from federal government programs. The second is brought about due to the lobbying of local governments. Ultimately, many members of the public consider these subsidies to be excessive or wasteful. It is important to understand however, that corporate welfare has been necessary in a variety of situations. The crisis that created corporate welfare was the Great Depression in which there was a need for the government to directly intervene in the farming industry; since farmers were either under-growing or over-growing certain crops in order to make a profit, these government subsidies permitted the distribution of a variety of crops at affordable prices (Higgs, 1997).

Although corporate welfare was effective during the Great Depression because it helped restore the economy and feed families, subsidies have had both positive and negative economic effects on our state. For example, while a majority of the subsidies went to smaller farms during the Great Depression, a majority of farmland is now owned by corporate entities; as a consequence, corporations receive a majority of the subsidies which contradicts the point of the subsidy. On the other-hand, controlling crop growth is still necessary to ensure that food is affordable. Therefore, it would be irresponsible to remove the program from existence.

If I were president, I would modify this policy according to the legal status of businesses. Small business owners would be allowed to receive a greater subsidy than corporations. Outside of this requirement, subsidies will still be issued according to the size of the business with favor given to those with the greatest amount of employees rather than income. The capacity of the business will depend less on their ability to produce a product because those with less product may have a greater need for the subsidy.

References

Higgs R. (1997). Regime Uncertainty: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War. The Independent Review, 1(4): 561-590.