摘要：Macroeconomic policy, exchange rate regimes, international capital markets and tradepolicy are receiving greater attention as the U.S. economy has become more open andworld financial markets have become more closely integrated. Recent internationalfinancial crises, on-going world trade negotiations, and uncertain macroeconomicconditions in the U.S. also raise concerns about the effects of macroeconomic and tradepolicies on incomes and asset values in U.S. agriculture. While the economic impacts ofthese events have been muted by government transfers to agriculture, macroeconomicand trade policies remain important because of the increasing exposure of the agriculturalsector to national and international forces. It is important to recognize that agriculture isquite sensitive to changing exchange rates and interest rates. Consequently, those forcescommunicate greater volatility to agriculture via commodity and capital markets. As aresult, there are several direct and indirect effects of policies that should be considered.We look at the underlying roles of policies and the potential for increased volatility dueto stronger linkages between those markets, and the implications for agriculturalproducers and lenders.
