Regarding David Stokes’ question of a couple weeks ago about which type of area (e.g., urban, suburban, or rural) is most heavily subsidized by the government, it appears that the USDA disbursed a record amount of money to rural Missouri last year — $1.126 billion. The bulk of the funds were used as a direct subsidy for rural residents:

The Rural Development Single Family Housing Program provided $578.2 million to individuals and families to buy homes or rehabilitate existing homes.

Let me just get this straight: They subsidized the purchase of homes where they are already cheapest, and at a time when there is already a glut in the nationwide housing market? What could go wrong?