In a short essay, explain why agricultural subsidies have been implemented in Europe and the United States. What are the criticisms to these subsidies?

What will be an ideal response?

In Europe and the United States, governments frequently provide agricultural subsidies to supplement the income of farmers and help manage the supply of agricultural commodities. The U.S. government grants subsidies for more than two dozen commodities, including corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, and rice. In Europe, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is a system of subsidies that represents about 40 percent of the EU's budget, amounting to tens of billions of euros annually. The CAP and U.S. subsidies have been criticized for promoting unfair competition and high prices because they tend to prevent developing economies from exporting their agricultural goods to Europe and the United States. Subsidies encourage overproduction and therefore lower food prices at home, making agricultural imports from developing countries less competitive.