The shallow-loss program would give farmers subsidies to bring them up to 90 percent or even 95 percent of the average revenues they have received for any given crop over the previous five years whenever current revenues from those crops fall below those amounts. Anyone who knows anything about American agriculture understands just how implausible that idea is.

National security and economic competitiveness are linked in reality--they should be linked by national policy as well.

The United States is creating problems for itself by failing to invest adequately in basic research in science and science education.

Policymakers and legislators seem blind or obliviousto America's growing science gap with the rest of the world.

One economist's reaction to the State of the Union address.

Many more factors figure into the cost of a bachelor's degree than just tuition. Taxpayers may contribute a substantial tax subsidy or, in rare cases, receive a moderate net "profit" per bachelor’s degree--fueling an intense discussion about the true costs of higher education and who pays for them.

Bush’s proposed education plan uses aggressive federal standards to heighten the competitiveness of the future U.S. workforce.

Now we have a Republican President talking about expanding the federal government's role in education with a program aimed at helping poor children and minorities. Is this the Great Society, Part Two? Not quite.

Whenever the federal government has gotten involved in education, it has been for one of two...