Facebook Inc. took a momentous action last week. And I don’t mean its announced intention to sell shares for $28 to $35 in an initial public offering later this month.

Economic progress and advances of medical technology have helped increase life expectancy. Nevertheless, a marked aging of the population has raised concerns that this progress may increase health care spending beyond sustainable levels. In previous research, Swiss economist Peter Zweifel found however that the share of the population approaching death--that...

Thus far, the debate about an optional federal charter for insurance companies has focused primarily on whether and how federal regulation of U.S. insurers will improve services for insurance consumers in the United States. But insurance, like banking and securities, is increasingly becoming a globalized market. U.S. insurers are increasingly...

Few areas of public policy are more misunderstood than that of insurance. Why do consumers want to buy insurance in the first place? Why have politicians from Bismarck to the Clintons wished to provide more insurance through the public sector? And, can economists provide any rational criteria to judge...