The Economics of Agriculture

THE ECONOMICS OF AGRICULTURE by R. L. COHCEN FELLOW OF NEWNHAM COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES By the General Editor: SHORTLY after the war of 1914-18 there seemed to be a place for a Series of introductory Economic Hand books intended to convey to the ordinary reader and to the uninitiated student some conception of the general principles of thought which economists now apply to economic problems. This Series was planned by the late Lord Keynes under the title Cambridge Economic Handbooks, and he wrote for it a general Editorial Introduction of which the words quoted above formed part. In 1936 Lord Keynes handed over the editorship of the Series to Mr. D. H. Robertson, who held it until he became Professor .of Economics in the .University of London, The judgment of its originators has been justified by the wide welcome given to the Series. Apart from its circulation in the British Empire, it has been pub lished from the start in the United States of America while translations of the principal volumes have so far appeared in Genttan, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Japanese, Polish and Lithuanian, It is symptomatic of the changes which have been taking place inr recent times in the development of economic science, changes associated in a high degree with the work and influence of Lord Keynes himself, that within the brief space of fifteen years the text of part of the Editorial Introduction should have stood in need of revision, In its original version the last paragraph of the Introduction to the Series ran as follows: Even on matters of principle there is not yet a complete unanimity of opinion amongst professors. Generally speaking, the writers of these volumes believe themselves to be orthodox members of the Cambridge School of Economics. At any rate, most of their ideas about the subject, and even their prejudices, are traceable to the contact they have enjoyed with the writings and lectures of the two economists who have chiefly influenced Cambridge thought for the past fifty years, Dr. Marshall and Professor Pigou When the Editorship of the Series was transferred to Mr. Robertson, Lord Keynes consented to the retention of his general Introduction, but subsequently rewrote the concluding paragraph in the following form: Even on matters of principle there is not yet a complete unanimity of opinion amongst professional students of the subject. Immediately after the war daily economic events were of such a startling character as to divert attention from theoretical complexities. But today, economic science has recovered its wind. Traditional treatments and traditional solutions are being questioned, improved, and revised. In the end this activity of research should clear up controversy. But for the moment controversy and doubt are increased. The writers of this series must apologise to the general reader and to the beginner if many parts of their subject have not yet reached to a degree of certainty and lucidity which would make them easy and straight forward reading.