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Our Purpose

Since its inception in 1999, the farmdoc project in the University of Illinois’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences has become a trusted source of information for crop and livestock producers in the U. S. Corn Belt.

The success of this farm-focused information-delivery site inspired Agricultural and Consumer Economics Department Head Paul Ellinger to explore the development of a parallel site to share research-based economic policy that would help inform policy and policy makers on a broad range of topics.

Policy Matters was created in 2014 and is maintained by a team of U of I economists in the Department of ACE. The Department of ACE has a rich history in analyzing the economic effects of domestic and international policies on consumers, producers, agribusinesses, and the environment. And although the site originated in ACE, it includes posts from faculty across the university.

This site will allow economists at the U of I to respond quickly and flexibly to timely policy issues as they arise in blog-style entries rather than in more formal documents, such as a press release.