Per capita cost/value of infrastructure?

[Warren Ockrassa]

On Feb 20, 2008, at 4:07 PM, 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).

Cites might be helpful to see if (1) there is in fact such a senator;  
and (2) s/he is in fact asking for this money now (as opposed to  
having done so in, say, 2006).

> 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)...

Half a million dollars per resident would assume 50,000 residents, for  
what that's worth. As for wastes of taxpayer money, one wonders what  
the response is to Iraq.

> 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.

Well, some of that would depend on the level of infrastructure -- that  
is, interstates would involve a different tax base and quantity than,  
say, a local hospital or shelter; or a county facility or state  
highway system that happens to pass through the city.

> 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 hasn't so far.

My personal objection to rebuilding New Orleans is that it's going to  
get hit again. It's below sea level. Eventually it will be inundated,  
and no amount of money poured into it today -- or next year, or in  
2015 -- will change that fact.

It might make more sense to simply decide which buildings we  
absolutely must keep due to their historical importance, move them to  
high solid ground, help the remaining citizens relocate and get  
established in new locations, and let the sea in.

--
Warren Ockrassa
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