Doctrine of parity
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The doctrine of parity was used to justify agricultural price controls in the United States beginning in the 1920s. It was the belief that farming should be as profitable as it was between 1909 and 1914, an era of high food prices and farm prosperity. The doctrine sought to restore the "terms of trade" enjoyed by farmers in those years. It was highly controversial, since critics argued it ignored changes in agricultural productivity and set an artificial standard.[1][2]
The doctrine developed in the 1920s as food prices declined after the First World War. The first attempt at instituting the parity doctrine was the McNary-Haugen Bill, vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1928. Farming prices decreased further during the Great Depression, leading to parity-seeking New Deal era legislation, such as the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933.[3]
Political pressure to enforce parity declined after the 1940s and 1950s as commodity prices rose. However, New Deal programs remained in place, and agricultural price regulations were still regularly introduced.[4]