What is in this article?: - U.S. Fiscal Cliff and Agriculture -
Implications for U.S. Agriculture The U.S. fiscal cliff refers
to the combination of two events that will occur in late 2012
and early 2013: the implementation of federal budget cuts
resulting from the compromise to extend the U.S. federal debt
ceiling and the expiration of many of the tax cuts enacted since
2000. The name, "fiscal cliff," stems from the widely held
concern that these two actions may cause an economic recession.
However, the fiscal cliff is actually a symptom, not the
problem. The U.S. has been using fiscal spending and tax policy
to stimulate the U.S. economy. This stimulus, in particular the
second set of so-called Bush tax cuts, pre-dates the financial
crisis of 2007, but the stimulus expanded substantially with the
Economic Stimulus Bill of 2008. Between 2007 and 2012, federal
spending increased from $2.7 trillion to $3.5 trillion. In
contrast, federal tax receipts actually decreased from $2.6
trillion to $2.4 trillion. A key