Day 75 The department of agriculture in Batavia reports that the number of dairy farms throughout the country is now 25 percent greater than it was 10 years ago

The following appeared in a letter to the editor of a Batavia newspaper.

“The department of agriculture in Batavia reports that the number of dairy farms throughout the country is now 25 percent greater than it was 10 years ago. During this same time period, however, the price of milk at the local Excello Food Market has increased from $1.50 to over $3.00 per gallon. To prevent farmers from continuing to receive excessive profits on an apparently increased supply of milk, the Batavia government should begin to regulate retail milk prices. Such regulation is necessary to ensure fair prices for consumers.”

Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation is likely to have the predicted result. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.

五问：

（1）“The department of agriculture in Batavia reports that the number of dairy farms throughout the country is now 25 percent greater than it was 10 years ago. During this same time period, however, the price of milk at the local Excello Food Market has increased from $1.50 to over $3.00 per gallon”是事实，“To prevent farmers from continuing to receive excessive profits on an apparently increased supply of milk, the Batavia government should begin to regulate retail milk prices”是结论，值得反驳吗？

（2）本段论述的目标是确保为消费者提供牛奶的“ fair prices”。大家想想看，制定“fair prices”可能受到哪些因素的影响？“ farmers”是否只是诸多因素中的一个？你能说出其他一两个因素吗？比如经销商等。请具体描述其他因素是如何影响“ fair prices”的。例如：对于消费者来说合理的价格，可能对于农户和经销商来说并不合理。

（3）奶牛场的数量比十年前增加了 25%，就意味着牛奶的供应量提高了吗？近几年疯牛病频发，是否可能导致牛奶产量反而降低了？

（4）将整个 Batavia地区的牛奶产量增长与local Excello Food Market的价格情况相对应，这种做法合理吗？这种区域不一致可能导致什么样的问题？也许只是由于这个 Market租金和运输成本提高而使牛奶价格上涨，而整个 Batavia地区的牛奶价格没有很大变化。笔者仅凭市场表象得出结论，缺乏对牛奶市场的深入调查。

（5）你能否尝试描述这样一种可能性：由于某种因素的影响（比如农业机械设备的价格提高）而导致最终的产品价格上涨，但是农民的利润并没有增加甚至减少了？