AgricultureAndGlobalization

WiredMagazine : http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/india_pr.html

A century ago, 40 percent of Americans worked on farms. Today, the farm sector employs about 3 percent of our workforce. But our agriculture economy still outproduces all but two countries. Fifty years ago, most of the US labor force worked in factories. Today, only about 14 percent is in manufacturing. But we've still got the largest manufacturing economy in the world - worth about $1.9 trillion in 2002. We've seen this movie before - and it's always had a happy ending.

Although of course US agriculture is protected. It's what the third-world always complain about. Maybe US success depends on playing the hypocrite : preaching free-trade and sneakily protecting.

See also OnAgriculture, TheEfficiencyQuestion