It's highly unlikely NO will be abandoned although much of it may be razed. Symbolism would be much too negative, especially for an administration that needs all the positive spin it can get right now. The regional economic damage is phenomenal, and therefore the restoration project will be also, over time. If Bush is too narrow minded to jump on this rebuild a model of energy efficiency opportunity, he will need resuscitation soon. But the larger question is whether the economy in fourth quarter can withstand this shock.
Company sees Katrina economic losses at $100 BN RMS, based in Newark, Calif., on Monday forecast that insured losses from Katrina would total $10 billion to $25 billion. It made that forecast before levees protecting New Orleans, which lies mostly below sea level, failed, and has yet to update it. RMS added that the cost of interrupted economic activity -- which includes losses from interruption and displacement of residents -- could cost the economy $100 million a day. But not all analysts are as gloomy about Katrina's potential economic impact. Ethan Harris, chief U.S. economist at Lehman Brothers Inc., said, "Despite the immense destruction of property and lives, Hurricane Katrina will likely have a modest impact on the national economy," according to Reuters. http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/02/news/katrina_estimates/index.htm Of course, the Carlyle Group and mega wealthy compadres of Wall Street are trying to figure out how to salvage the economy while profiting from it. Bush has a real "power lunch" scheduled with Greenspan. Some people who have been challenging the free market all-is-well economic and energy mantras for years are already so suspicious that I've seen at least one reference to "destruction economics" where you allow the poorest dregs of society to be eliminated. And an astute confidante reminded me, there is also the question of what these displaced voters will do in new electoral districts...think about it. Again, the Bush Troika may use Katrina as cover to bring home some troops sooner from Iraq without losing face for policy and strategy failures but so far their message is tightly "we're in control" and "progress is being made". If the death toll is as high as is being speculated this weekend, things could get really ugly in Washington, as the summer of 1968 reverberates. Even Bush supporters are complaining that his circle is too small, doesn't listen to outsiders. That's symptomatic of several crippling handicaps, as too many CEOS, much less politicians have learned. Hurricane Andrew hit almost to the day fifteen years ago, and deflated the Bush1 post-Gulf War I bubble. It was almost sad to watch Bush pere defensive about the political impacts from that in a CNN interview sitting next to Clinton, who was his usual articulate self (covering Dubya's hide a little too well for some folks). KwC > * # of days engineers and crews expect to need to dry out NOLA: 36-80 Even after these 36-80 days, most buildings will be damaged beyond repair, if only for the toxic molds that will overgrow every piece of wood in them in that tropical climate. Perhaps NOLA should simply be abandoned and left standing as a memorial for neo-con idiocy and the effects of CO2 still denied by Dubya. > * $ Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered the Red Cross: $1,000,000 Not bad, after Pat Robertson's fatwah against Chavez, and the U$ authorities not prosecuting Robertson for it... Chris ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword "igve". _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
