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Crisis and Response in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina

 

In 2005 the Mercatus Center launched a five-year project to follow the long-term redevelopment of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Our inquiry seeks to determine the roles that public, commercial, and non-profit sectors play in rebuilding communities affected by large scale catastrophes.

So far our research has focused on insurance, infrastructure, natural resilience within communities, recovery policy, and social capital studies. Our methodology combines verbal interviews with people rebuilding in the Gulf Coast supplemented by quantitative and qualitative data in order to better understand the array of complex issues facing communities recovering from disaster.

This page contains highlights of our publications and events, as well as links to comprehensive lists all research to date.

All Katrina Related Publications | Scholars and Staff | Mercatus On Policy | Events

Featured Publications

Can New Orleans Benefit from Market-based Approaches for Flood Protection?
Peter Gordan and Richard Little
July 2, 2007

This paper suggests some options that would provide decision-makers at each step in the process of flood protection, from Congress to the individual homeowner, with incentives to base decisions on risk and not continue subsidizing behavior that ignores risk.

 

Louisiana’s Performance in the New Knowledge Economy
Jody Lipford and Bruce Yandle
June 9, 2008

This paper makes the argument that Louisiana has economic potential, but improvement will require the state to embrace fully the knowledge economy of the 21st century, a step the state as a whole has not taken, despite the progress of its metropolitan areas.

 

A Policy Maker's Guide to Effective Disaster Preparedness and Response
May 29, 2008

In the almost three years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region of the United States, scholars, policy makers, and concerned citizens have been working to understand what exactly went wrong in the response to the event and how better to prepare for future natural disasters. Post-Katrina New Orleans presents a unique opportunity to study how and how not to undertake the rebuilding of a major population center after such a catastrophe. Proper study of this subject, if conducted objectively and rigorously, will not only save other communities countless dollars but will also save lives.

 

Insurance and Societal Vulnerability to Hurricanes
Daniel Sutter
April 7, 2008

In this paper, Professor Sutter analyzes the sources of growing hurricane vulnerability in U.S. Atlantic and Gulf counties since 1950. The analysis specifically focuses on policy interventions in insurance markets, or states with 'hurricane pool' residual market mechanisms. He concludes that there is a significant role for insurance subsidies as driving coastal population growth in hurricane-prone areas.

 

The Market for Hurricane Mitigation: Regulatory or Market Failure?
Daniel Sutter
April 3, 2008

In this paper, Professor Sutter explores how regulations designed to improve hurricane mitigation interact with decision making behavior among residents, and may actually reduce the overall amount of protection taken against disasters.He further argues that a different regulatory regime that would better allow market incentives to work may actually improve the quality of disaster mitigation throughout dangerous areas.

 

Quality Assurance in the Public Sector: An Analysis of Building Code Enforcement
Daniel Sutter
April 1, 2008

Building codes have been stressed as a measure to reduce vulnerability to hurricanes and other natural hazards. Almost all U.S. states have adopted a building code, but building codes do not enforce themselves. In this paper Professor Sutter explores the determinants of building code enforcement across states using ratings from the Insurance Services Office.

 

Making Hurricane Response More Effective
Steven Horwitz
March 19, 2008

In this policy comment Professor Horwitz compares the relative effectiveness of Wal-Mart, the US Coast Guard, and FEMA in the hours and days after Katrina made landfall and pulls out policy implications about how to better engage the public and private sectors after future disasters.

 

The Effect of Transparency on Ethics, Honor, and Results in Government
Maurice McTigue
February 13, 2008

Ambassador Maurice McTigue speaks to the World Trade Center in New Orleans regarding transparency in government, and its importance in assuring sustainable economic and social development.

 

Mercatus On Policy 

Mercatus On Policy is a new series of 4-page documents that distill important elements of our scholars' work in an easily accessible format.

Hosting a Disaster
Professor Emily Chamlee-Wright and Associate Director Daniel Rothschild examine policies that can prepare cities to host an evacuee population.

A Policy Maker's Guide to Disaster Response
In the three years since Hurricane Katrina, policy makers, concerned citizens, and scholars have been working to better understand how response could have been improved in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  This short guide summarizes some of Mercatus' findings to date, providing concise recommendations in the event of future disasters.

Disastrous Uncertainty
Professor Emily Chamlee-Wright looks at how policy-driven confusion can stifle long-term redevelopment, suggesting revisions for improving plans during future catastrophes.

Ensuring Disaster: State Insurance Regulation
Professor Daniel Sutter examines the effect of state wind pools on insurance markets and discusses how policies could be improved without Federal involvement to better prepare states for disaster.

Power to the Neighborhoods
Professors Sanford Ikeda and Peter Gordon present an innovative idea for recovery: allow communities to break away from central municipalities in order to stimulate economic growth. Such a course could be uniquely suited for post-disaster areas like the Gulf Coast.

The Housing Voucher Choice Program
Mercatus Fellow Emily Schaeffer examines alternatives to housing projects in New Orleans and elsewhere, suggesting that a voucher system could produce superior outcomes than current policies.

  

Events 

What’s Working in Post-Katrina Recovery: Is the Gulf Coast Open for Business?
On July 29, 2008, the Mercatus Center will hot a panel to discuss release a compilation of post-Katrina research and analysis that will consist of six policy papers exploring the role of businesses and entrepreneurs in post-Katrina recovery, each with recommendations for change and illustrated by a case study of a local citizen who has struggled against the odds for survival and contributed valuable lessons learned to his/her community in the process. The compendium will also include reviews of popular books and a reference list of research related to Gulf Coast recovery.

Rebuilding in the Wake of Crisis: Lessons from Hurricane Recovery
On November 13, Capital Campus California hosted a discussion on the role of the legislature in the rebuilding process in the aftermath of the California fires, and what lessons can be drawn from Gulf Coast recovery.

Rational Homeland Security: Lowering Obstacles and Creating Economic and Socially Sensible Policies
The Mercatus Center hosted an experienced panel to discuss and explore how governments at all levels prepare for and respond to disasters.

The Crisis in Public Safety Communications
This event brought together prominent scholars, policy makers, and industry officials to discuss groundbreaking research on what causes the lack of effective communication between local public safety personnel, and how U.S. spectrum policies have failed to remedy this problem. Learn more here.

The Crisis of Katrina: Lessons for Preparedness and Response
In a joint Mercatus Center/National Press Club event, scholars from the Mercatus Center at George Mason University released preliminary findings of a five-year research project analyzing these issues with commentary provided by journalists from the National Journal and Pulitzer Prize winning New Orleans Times-Picayune. You can watch the event on C-SPAN's Web site. 

California: The Role of the State in Disaster Response
This course for California policymakers and staff brings fresh insights into the question of disaster response and recovery on the state level by exploring the lessons of Katrina and other tragedies as they apply to California.

Risky Business and the Economics of Insurance Markets
A seminar sponsored by the Mercatus Center to examine the economics of insurance and to address issues of Terrorism, insurance, rising health care costs, and the federal government's role in this industry.

Katrina's Legacy: FEMA and the Economics of Disaster Relief
At this point in time it is vital that we not only look back at history's lessons, but also look forward to ensure that government organizations are able to respond accordingly in times of need. To help foster a constructive climate for informed debate in the wake of Katrina, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University will host a seminar to discuss the many questions arising from this tragedy.

 

Scholars and Staff

Peter Boettke - Principal Investigator, Crisis and Response in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina; Research Director, Global Prosperity Initiative; University Professor and Professor of Economics, George Mason University

Jerry Brito - Senior Research Fellow, Regulatory Studies Program, Mercatus Center

Emily Chamlee-Wright - Mercatus Senior Research Scholar; Elbert H. Neese Professor of Economics, Beloit College

Peter Gordon - Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar; Professor of Real Estate Economics and Public Policy, University of Southern California

Steven Horwitz - Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar; Professor of Economics, St. Lawrence University

Peter Leeson - Mercatus Senior Scholar; BB&T Professor for the Study of Capitalism, George Mason University

Richard Little - Director, Keston Institute for Public Finance and Infrastructure, University of Southern California

Jody Lipford - Professor of Economics and Business Administration, Presbyterian College

Maurice McTigue - Director of the Government Accountability Project and Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Mercatus Center

Eileen Norcross - Senior Research Fellow, Government Accountability Project, Mercatus Center

Timothy Roemer - Distinguished Scholar, Mercatus Center

Russell Sobel - Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar; James Clark Coffman Distinguished Chair in Entrepreneurial Studies, West Virginia University

Daniel Sutter - Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar; Associate Professor of Economics and Finance, The University of Texas Pan American

Werner Troesken - Mercatus Senior Scholar; F.A. Harper Professor of Economics, George Mason University

Mario Villarreal - Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar; Professor of Economics at Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores (Monterrey Institute of Technology)

Bruce Yandle - Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Economics, Dean Emeritus, Clemson College of Business and Behavioral Sciences

Lenore Ealy - Mercatus Affiliated Senior Scholar; President, Thinkitecture Inc.

Emily Schaeffer - Mercatus Graduate Fellow; Ph. D candidate, Department of Economics, George Mason University

Daniel Rothschild - Associate Director, Global Prosperity Initiative, Mercatus Center

Heather Allen - Program Associate, Global Prosperity Initiative, Mercatus Center