With the historic reliance on agricultural subsidy programs focused on a single economic sector yielding diminishing results, there is a need for new approaches to rural policy, according to those attending a rural policy conference. More than 120 rural policy officials and experts from around the world attended "New Approaches to Rural Policy: Lessons from Around the World," March 25-26 near Washington, D.C. The conference was jointly sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Rural Policy Research Institute and The Countryside Agency. A conference summary appears in the third quarter edition of The Economic Review. The need for new rural policies comes as globalizing markets force consolidation in traditional industries, like agriculture and manufacturing, bringing economic decline to many rural communities. However, there was a strong sense of optimism among conference attendees that rural regions are not in decline and that most rural areas have underutilized their assets and overlooked potential intra- and interregional linkages that can make the regions competitive in a globalizing economy. Amid a flurry of new initiatives, participants agreed that new rural policies generally have two distinguishing features: first, they focus on exploiting each region’s distinct economic asset and second, they use public funds to construct public goods that will spur private sector investments. The article and past editions of The Economic Review are available on the Bank’s Web site at www.kc.frb.org. # # # Return to www.kansascityfed.org
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