Response to the article on “How useful is the PSE in determining agricultural support?” by Arie Oskam and Gerrit Meester

In their sweeping criticism of the OECD's approach to measuring agricultural support, Oskam and Meester (O-M) pay little attention to what it is that OECD wants to measure. However, it is only when the objective of a given measurement concept is properly defined and understood that the usefulness of the approach employed can be assessed. Criticising a thermometer for its inability to measure distance misses the point. Hence, we need to start with the question of why the OECD is engaged in calculating PSEs, before dealing with some of the more specific points made by O-M.