FEBRUARY 1996, VOL. 2, NO. 1 99

Angst in Aggregate Unemployment Work Behavior and Compensation

SANDRA SNOW University of Wisconsin at Whitewater

Comment SHIMSHON KINORY, Jersey City State University

With employment rising and the economy booming can happiness be far? Yes, according to this paper, since most new jobs are in retailing and services where the pay is relatively low. To measure the combined effect of unemployment and industrial restructuring (the ANGST effect), Snow proposes using the Value of the Average Monthly Real Earnings (VAMRE) which is based on the level of employment as well as earnings. To measure the ANGST, this author would suggest, however, using the employment elasticity of VAMRE instead of comparing their slopes. Moreover, using the Consumers Confidence Index as an indicator of ANGST seems questionable, since while down to 50.2 in January 1992, the index has recently rebounded to 100, contradicting the ANGST claims. Lastly, it would seem that the results may be strengthened by adjusting the data for fringe benefits, the value of which is lower in retail and services as compared to that in manufacturing.

Evaluation of Agricultural Producer Willingness to Produce Biomass

BURTON C. ENGLISH, ROBIN L. GRAHAM, JOSE VELASQUEZ, AND VICKIE WITCHER University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Comment JAMES A. LARSON, University of Tennessee

The authors attempt to develop a Geographic Information System (GIS) to evaluate the potential for biomass production from crops. This new kind of spatial modeling uses analytical operations and spatial statistics to do the analysis. The advantage is the ability to specify a spatial supply function showing potential concentrations of production using relative prices, competing crops in the region, soil types, environmental impacts, and the like. Two potential problems are a lack of knowledge about spatial relationships and validating these relationships in the GIS. The authors attempt to overcome the first problem by incorporating the EPIC simulation model into the GIS. However, problems regarding the ad hoc methods to select crops in a region and normalize yields in EPIC must be overcome to improve validity of approach.

Sustainable Agriculture: Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs

BENGT HYBERG AND PARVEEN SETIA Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture

Comment J. A. LARSON, G. DE LA TORRE UGARTE, R. L. WHITE, AND D. E. RAY, University of Tennessee

The authors discuss the economic and environmental implications of adopting sustainable agriculture systems. In general, these authors agree with most of what was presented. Many now accept that sustainability encompasses environmental, economic, and social health goals. The environment is the axle upon which the sustainability debate turns. If the environment sustains permanent damage and no longer sustains the agricultural productivity needed to feed a growing population, then economic and social aspects will naturally flow after that. A frequently ignored aspect of the debate is potential tradeoffs among future growth rates in productivity necessary to feed a growing population and environmental concerns. It is a matter of political will as to whether this concern for the environment will rise to the top in a political sense.