Perspectives, Philosophy, and Agricultural Economics

Nevertheless, it remains my view that the agricultural economics profession can still make a major contribution to the public good by making as many people as possible aware of the actual and potential consequences of public policies that are relevant to the food, fiber, and resource sectors. High levels of precision in transparency and forecasting are often neither achievable nor cost effective, but orders of magnitude, directions of change, and even identification of potential consequences, if widely understood and accepted, can have a positive influence on the quality of public policy-making.

One more point. I have already alluded to the changing environment for funding "public goods" research and scholarship. Declining state and Federal research funds, increasing emphasis on grantsmanship as a performance measure, growth in the proportion of both private and public funds coming from sources with restricted agendas, and decreasing congruity between the interests of agricultural appropriations committees and the broadening interests of agricultural economists are all topics with which you are familiar and about which members of this society have written in recent years. How, in this environment, can we find the support and opportunity to do research (and extension and teaching) that addresses the broader "transparency" needed by our society today? Here are a few suggestions for starters.

Have your own agenda. If there were no constraints, what would you, as an agricultural economist, like to do in your areas of scholarship that you believe would be of great benefit to society? What are the issues you would like to address that would benefit from more insight and sunlight? Let that agenda be your "North Star." Rather than a passive approach of having your research or education agenda be dictated completely by whatever funds come along, be aggressive in seeking funds to support your priorities. You still need to be a team player and be responsive to the needs of your employing institution and its funders, but if you have a clear sense of where you want to go, you are more likely to get there than if you let yourself be whiplashed by whatever funding happens to come along. Remember the old adage: "A ship without a destination never arrives."

Bootleg. There are several ways to do this, and most of you probably already do it. Use money provided for a restricted objective to address a broader objective or a bigger question. A similar way to bootleg funds is to use any savings or financial flexibility from a grant or contract to work on a broader or different issue. Use "hot button" topics high on the agendas of funders as an entrée to a related issue needing transparency. There are other ways to bootleg support, but faculty members already know these better than administrators.

Persuade. Make a compelling case for your objective. You have already thought through the reasons why what you want to do is very important. Try to relate those reasons, persuasively, to the interests of a funder.