The ever-sharp Joel Kotkin weighs in with some perspective on Katrina that our own local leaders should ponder:
Instead of serving as a major commercial and entrepreneurial center, New Orleans’s dominant industry lies not in creating its future but selling its past, much of which now sits underwater. Tourism defines contemporary New Orleans’ economy more than its still-large port, or its remaining industry, or its energy production. Although there is nothing wrong, per se, in being a tourist town, it is not an industry that attracts high-wage jobs; and tends to create a highly bifurcated social structure. This can be seen in New Orleans’s perennially high rates of underemployment, crime and poverty. The murder rate is 10 times the national average.
In sum, New Orleans was an extreme form of a hollow city, with no core wealth or competencies beyond being a “destination for conventioneers, masqueraders and weekend revelers.”
Remember that as we siphon off great chunks of local wealth to build and maintain a whitewater park, NASCAR Valley, an arena, a convention center……..
