EconGoneCountry
Supply and demand with a twang
Title: Trouble in the Fields
Artist: Nanci Griffith
Economic Concepts: Production; Resources; Great Depression; Capital-to-labor ratio; Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF)
Details: The song is set during the farm crisis of the 1980s, but a reference is made to the drought of the Dust Bowl.
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow
And
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal.
Without irrigation to supplement the nearly complete decrease in the input (rain), the output (crops) fell to zero. However, farmers are aware that when the rain returns, production and life will return to normal.
This can be used to teach students about the three main inputs in the production process: land, labor, and capital. Water is categorized as land in the production process, but instructors could also use this song to pivot and discuss other inputs. Modern agricultural production is heavily dependent on capital such as tractors, trucks, combines, etc.
During tough times, such as the 1980s farm crisis, farmers may have had to sell equipment in order to keep their farms, reducing their productivity. The song alludes to this when Griffith sings:
But if we sell that new John Deere,
and then we’ll work these crops with sweat and tears.
You’ll be the mule, I’ll be the plow.
Come harvest time we’ll work it out.
This example can also be used to discuss productivity and the capital-to-labor ratio, which is falling as farm equipment is sold off. In addition, “Trouble in the Fields” can also be used to teach about technological change and its impact on production. Prior to steam-powered or internal combustion engines, agricultural production depended quite literally on horsepower and physical, manual labor. These technological advancements expanded our ability to produce a final product, as seen through the Production Possibilities Frontier (PPF).
Lyrics:
Baby I know that we've got trouble in the fields
When the bankers swarm like locust out there turning away our yield
The trains roll by our silos, silver in the rain
They leave our pockets full of nothing
But our dreams and the golden grain
Have you seen the folks in line downtown at the station
They're all buying their ticket out and talking the great depression
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lot of love, here in these troubled fields
There's a book up on the shelf about the dust bowl days
And there's a little bit of you and a little bit of me
In the photos on every page
Now our children live in the city and they rest upon our shoulders
They never want the rain to fall or the weather to get colder
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lot of love, here in these troubled fields