Per capita cost/value of infrastructure?

[William T Goodall]

On 20 Feb 2008, at 23:07, Nick Arnett wrote:

> There's an email circulating on the net regarding $250 billion to  
> rebuild
> New Orleans, which one of Louisiana's senators apparently is asking  
> for (I
> didn't check that fact).  The email suggests that this is an obvious  
> waste
> of taxpayer money, since it comes to about a half million dollar per
> resident.  Aside from questions about this particular number (was  
> that for
> the current or pre-Katrina population, for example)... I haven't  
> been able
> to find any particularly good figures on the actual per capita value  
> of
> public infrastructure or the cost of replacing it.
>
> Anybody have any idea where such figures might be found?
>
> Of course, one could argue that if the market sees efficiency in  
> rebuilding
> New Orleans, government can just get out of the way and it'll  
> happen.  ;-)

It raises questions about the pragmatism of the argument that the  
cheapest way of dealing with global warming is to fix things as they  
happen rather than try and prevent them.

The arguments of the global warming deniers has so far run like this:

1) There's no such thing.
2) There is but humans have nothing to do with causing it.
3) We do cause it but getting a bit warmer is a good thing.
4) We do cause it and it's a bad thing but it's better to do nothing  
now.

All of which are ways of saying do nothing. And are equivalent to  
believing (1) and lying to persuade others to go along.

Religion = Lies Maru

-- 
William T Goodall
Mail : wtg at wtgab.demon.co.uk
Web  : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/

Every Sunday Christians congregate to drink blood in honour of their  
zombie master.