Tim Harford looks at risk and insurance and points out that it would make much more sense for most of us to bare small risks ourselves. Risky business:

"Few of us see risks that way. Matthew Rabin and Richard Thaler pointed out in 2001, in a paper that surprised even their fellow economists, that anyone who pays even slightly more than the fair premium to escape from a risk on a £50 phone or a 1900 insurance deductible must be making a mistake. The stakes are too tiny: in the context of a £1m lifetime income, even 1900 is a small enough risk to swallow."

Meanwhile, Stefan Dercon from Oxford looks at the way that a lack of insurance can prevent Etheopian farmers borrowing to buy fertiliser. The downside risk here is imprisonment for non-repayment.