The Kanitz Act Proposal

Abstract

Understanding chances of reforming the common agricultural policy (CAP) of the European Union, for instance, requires an appreciation of its intellectual roots. Seeking such an understanding is the purpose of this article, which has the following structure. Next to this introduction and the conclusions at the end, there are three parts. Part I details what an economist may want to know about Count von Kanitz and the context of his political and intellectual work. Part II explains the proposal first by staying close to its original verbiage, then, however, by translating this proposal into modern micro‐economic and public finance analytical terms. Part III gives an account of the scholarly literature on the proposal. The only piece of theoretical and practical relevance is found to be Gustav (von) Schmoller’s article of 1895: this article is briefly summarized and appreciated as being a classic piece in agricultural political economy.