New Orleans, A Case in Government Development Failure

I posted a while back on why creating a business friendly environment is better than government trying to persuade specific companies with financial incentives. Post-Katrina New Orleans was promised 14.9 billion federal money to redevelop the city. Here's what has happened:

But five years after Congress passed the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, more of the tax-free benefits have gone to the state’s powerful oil industry than to development in hard-hit areas. New Orleans has so far received a total of $55 million in bonds shared between eight projects—or less than 1 percent of the more than $5.9 billion issued statewide. None of the bonds issued for New Orleans projects went to development in hard-hit and still-struggling areas like the Lower Ninth Ward.

Whether you are an individual or group, getting government resources is complex and time consuming. So often only the well connected or large companies can gain access. The article linked suggests organizing the money better, but I'm skeptical of asking the same group to do the same job over again would have different results.

This article was brought to my attention by a friend. Always feel free to send any interesting links my way.