Agribusiness

Wheat. Barley. Corn. Those are all agricultural products that are, in fact, a business. And two hundred years ago, they comprised something around 95% of American business, when most of the country was one big, fat, rural farm, which actually made stuff. Stuff that was useful. Stuff you could eat. Stuff you could live on.

Agribusiness today is a completely different animal, largely driven by sometimes-legal immigrant labor, massive imports from Mexico, China, and other low-human-rights-esteeming countries. They all team up with the goal of selling those tomatoes for 12 cents a pound less.



Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)