Not a whole lot to say today. I seem to have used up my typing yesterday. Not a whole lot of links, either. Sorry.
- The New Republic Online asks whether New Orleans was Left Behind because of Bush-style conservatism or contemporary urban liberalism.
If New Orleans had not been such an economically polarized city, perhaps more of its residents would have been able to fend for themselves when disaster struck, and would therefore be alive today. For that, contemporary urban liberalism has to take its share of the blame.
And why was it economically polarized? Because unlike other port cities that lost jobs to automation, where local government encouraged blue-collar jobs related to trade, New Orleans relied upon the leisure and hospitality sector to provide 13.3 percent of its jobs. Jobs in trade tend to spread the wealth around more. Jobs in the hospitality industry don’t.Which is why cities that turn to elite culture to fuel their economies tend to generate unparalleled class disparities.
- Cosh gets after a similar question from a different angle by asking if the Katrina aftermath was the triumph of government?.
- Ugh. Government intervention of the worst sort: President vows Gulf Coast will be rebuilt and
a chief aim will be to lure those who fled New Orleans and other Gulf Coast communities to return rather than relocate permanently to the places where they sought refuge.
If people want to leave and not return, let them. Then again, I guess encouraging people to move back into N.O. so they can get clobbered again is exactly what I expect from government. [strib]