This paper examines the federally subsidized crop insurance program. Under this program, the federal government subsidizes about 60 percent of the premiums farmers pay for private insurance to protect them against financial losses due to drops in the value of their crops.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, the most common way U.S. buyers finance a home purchase, isn’t the ideal instrument its supporters claim it to be.

In Congress, the new House majority plans to pass a bill to "repeal" last year's health law. That's a start, but House leaders know that repeal of ill-advised legislation on its own will not fix health care's complex challenges.

President Obama is blaming insurers for rising insurance prices and increases in the number of uninsured Americans rather than acknowledging the role his health plan has played, but it will be much harder for him to dodge the rising tide of Americans lacking any health insurance.

The aim of ObamaCare is not to foster competition between private health plans, but to take over the market for medical care.

Taxpayers may be "soaked" by the eventual government costs of flood insurance, but that is because their elected officials have made the decision to provide the giveaway of subsidized insurance at a cost far below the risks the government assumes in offering it.

No serious observer of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) believes its financial future is bright. But few recognize just how troubled this government agency really is.

Barack Obama's health care plan is likely to control spending by "managing" it, and in some cases rationing drugs, procedures, and medical devices.