Agricultural Economics gets Politico
Update: For the record, I'm actually not against Federal crop insurance. Like Obamacare, I generally favor it. But the subsidies are surely much larger than they need to be for maximum efficiency. And I think premiums could likely be better matched to risk, and that such adjustments would be good for both taxpayers and the environment . Wow. Frumpy agricultural economics goes Politico ! Actually, it's kind of strange to see a supposedly scandalous article in Politico in which you know almost every person mentioned. At issue is the federal crop insurance program. The program has been around a long time, but its scope and size--the range crops and livestock insurable under the program and the degree to which taxpayers subsidize premiums--have grown tremendously over the last 20 years. And the latest farm bill expands the program and its subsidies to grand new heights. Nearly all the agricultural economists I know regard the crop insurance program (aka O