New Orleans: Where's the money?

Abstract

Fortune Magazine -- Ask New Orleanians how their city is faring these days, and their responses follow an eerily consistent arc. They begin with gratitude that you bothered asking and then move on to recitations of all the good that's going on. Hurricane Katrina, and the flood that followed, struck two years ago this month, and since then the tourists have returned, basic services are operating, and the city has crafted a comprehensive recovery plan. Linger a bit on the subject, however, and optimism quickly turns to exasperation. Lack of government leadership, the glacial pace of rebuilding, and outright rage at absent neighbors who've yet to demolish blighted homes top the list of gripes.