Hi Wim, some final thoughts: from Scientific American: Property Damage Katrina: $81 billion Irene: $19 billion Sandy: $20 billion, estimate They are not comparable in effect although Sandy was much bigger in terms of area. I am not arguing that government spending is automatically bad but I think in these cases you'd be shocked at the sheer waste involved. Most of the money goes to large contractors (Haliburton, The Shaw Group) who grossly overcharge the government while paying very low wages on the ground. This was obvious after Katrina. As were the absurd administrative fees involved in whats called the Road Home Program. And the list goes on.. The northeast is grossly underinsured against these kinds of events (unlike New Orleans where the majority had flood insurance) and you will find that water and storm damage is not covered and companies will fight like hell to avoid paying things out. The broken window theory is exactly right, as Susan says. This is money that could and would have been spent elsewhere, possibly with more success and a bigger impact. It is not new money, it is not an investment in the future. Yes, New Orleans is better now economically than it was before Katrina but arguing that the storm was a good thing is more complicated than that. I don't see how these events can drag the entire economy out of a slump. Now, if you wanted to argue for a massive, nationwide WPA style effort I might agree with a bunch of large ifs as to how it is administered and who controls the projects etc. But storm recovery is not going to do it. And the benefit to piano technicians is fleeting and depends on how well folks were insured and how well off they were to begin with. Maybe the northeast is enough more prosperous than the Gulf that it will be profitable. The whole issue is very complicated and I'm sorry for anyone in the middle of something like this, I hope to never see another flooded piano again. --Dave New Orleans On 10/31/12 3:26 PM, tnrwim at aol.com wrote: > Dave. This storm is different than the other two. It is over a much wider area, so it caused a lot more damage. Also, the immediate impact is going to take a while to over come. But between government and insurance dollars, plus private money, in the long run, a year or two down the road, the economic impact will be tremendous. > > Look at what happened to you. Less than 2 years after Katrina, you were looking for help with your business. The same thing happened after the '93 flood in St. Louis. A year later my business took off, which lasted at least 15 years >
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC