Against the Conventional Wisdom

John Kenneth Galbraith is one of my heroes. Not only is he Scots-Irish and one of the early bureaucrats in the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, but he gave the world many terms, including "conventional wisdom". The implication is that the wisdom is more convention than wise, which is the argument of a Columbia U. economist here, in relation to agricultural trade and subsidies:

Arvind Panagariya: "2. About rich-country protection and subsidies in agriculture. Contrary to the common belief, their removal will hurt the poorest countries.
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FT article, FT Editorial and the exchanges with Dr. William Cline and Professor Pranab Bardhan.
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Six fallacies associated with agricultural liberalization debunked (NEW full-length article: December 20, 2004) "

Among my many (un)qualifications is the ability to enter the dispute, but it shows there's more than Oxfam's side.