Inefficient and outdated policies, subsidized by US taxpayers in the 2008 Farm Bill at a cost of $307 billion, are once again up for approval.

The primary drivers of our growing debt burden are the “Big 3” entitlements of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Yet as part of the debt ceiling deal that created sequestration when the Super Committee failed, politicians effectively fenced off nearly two-thirds of the federal budget and the main source of our over-spending. 

The Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933 introduced many of the Farm Bill provisions that remain present today, including precursors to the current food and nutrition programs (FANPs). This policy served multiple purposes, including enhanced demand for farm products to alleviate low farm income and reduce agricultural surpluses, and enhanced food security and improved nutrition for the poor.

Senator Rand Paul and Representative Ron Paul are right to seek increased oversight of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy, but their legislation is an inefficient means to that end.

Alan D. Viard, a resident scholar at AEI, reviews the budget outlook, the need for tax reform and the benefits of moving to a progressive consumption tax. He also discusses his forthcoming book, Progressive Consumption Taxation: The X Tax Revisited, which he coauthored with Robert Carroll of Ernst & Young. The book will be published by AEI Press in the Spring.

What is the outlook for renewable energy in electricity generation--particularly wind and solar power--as a substitute for such conventional fuels as coal and natural gas?

Community colleges are subsidized through direct state and local government appropriations and through student grant programs. Every student who drops out represents an investment loss by the taxpayers in that student's uncompleted education.

India’s education policies should encourage private initiative and focus on learning outcomes