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This paper focuses on the political economy of United States (U.S.) farm policy since the Uruguay round trade negotiations concluded in 1994 and established the World Trade Organization (WTO). The continued ability of the powerful farm lobby in the U.S. to elicit support in the political arena is evident from this analysis. Yet there have been some substantial changes in policy that have reduced their distortionary effects, as well as some setbacks to liberalizing reform. New Doha round commitments could put further constraints on subsidies provided by some U.S. policy instruments. And despite the ability of the farm lobby to retain its support programs through 2012, there are several political uncertainties about the alignments that have allowed U.S. farm support to endure.

Degree of market integration has often been used as a gauge of the success of market liberalisation and structural adjustment policies in developing countries. China is both an emerging economy and the world's largest transitional economy. The target of its economic reform is the formation of an efficient market-oriented economy. Since it provides a wealth of evidence of the workings of a transitional economy, the performance of China's market is of great interest to transitional economists. There are two reasons to believe that market integration must be tested if the progress of economic reform in China is to be determined. The first reason relates to debates about assessment of market performance. On the one hand, China has been praised for facilitating market competition amongst state-owned, collective and private sectors. On the other hand, Young argues that, despite market-oriented reform, segments of the Chinese economy freed from central control tend to exploit rent-seeking opportunities implicit in distortions of the economy. As Young puts it, 'distortions beget distortion'. It is possible China's ongoing reform will stimulate sustained economic growth. If Young's prediction is accurate, however, China's markets have been getting less rather than more integrated and sustained economic growth in the future is unlikely. It is necessary, then, to test rather than assume market integration. The second reason to believe market integration must be tested has to do with China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) at the end of 2001. Although China is classified as a developing country, no one doubts that its markets will be more integrated with world markets after its WTO entry. A well-functioning market needs many different forms of support, such as infrastructure, institutions and policies. Studies on key determinants of market integration have promising policy implications for the establishment of Chinese market institutions. Agricultural markets are indispensable for China, and they emerged at the very beginning of reform. Ever since, however, they have been subject to strong government intervention. A high level of agricultural market integration will benefit Chinese agriculture in various ways. For example, it will be possible to allocate endowments more efficiently. Existing studies show that allocation has an effect on patterns of regional economic growth and disparity, and that price and production fluctuate less in more integrated markets. Many other ongoing reform strategies, such as urbanisation, industrialisation and so one, are related to level of agricultural market development. Methodologically, the agricultural markets, especially the grain markets, provide an excellent window for examining market development during transition. Unlike factor markets (for example, labour markets), commodity markets (for example, grain markets) are ideal for the study of market integration because their product homogeneity makes prices comparable in different regions and across time.

One of the most important political and economic challenges facing Europe and elsewhere is the ageing of societies. Must ageing populations create conflict between generations and crisis for health systems? Our answer is no. The problem is not so much demographic change as the political and policy challenge of creating fair, sustainable and effective policies for people of all ages. This book, based on a large European Observatory study, uses new evidence to challenge some of the myths surrounding ageing and its effects on economies and health systems. Cataclysmic views of population ageing are often based on stereotypes and anecdotes unsupported by evidence. How we address ageing societies is a choice. Societies can choose policies that benefit people of all ages, promoting equity both within and between generations, and political coalitions can be built to support such policies. This title is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.