Steven Horwitz, who notes that Wal-Mart did a better job than FEMA, has a study and a plan:
1. For relief and recovery efforts and ensure that its role [the private sector] is officially recognized as part of disaster protocols.
2. Decentralize government relief to local governments and non-governmental organizations and provide that relief in the form of cash or broadly defined vouchers.
3. Move the Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
4. Reform “Good Samaritan” laws so that private-sector actors are clearly protected when they make good faith efforts to help.
My recommendation would be to have a competent Administration once again in Washington. It is widely accepted that the Bush Administration took what was previously regarded as one of the most effective Federal programs, FEMA under Jamie Lee Witt, and systematically and intentionally gutted it through inattention and mismanagement.
There is certainly a role for the private sector in disaster response (and yes there is ample blame for the Katrina catastrophe to be laid at the feet of the states), but to focus on this is to provide cover for the inexcusable neglect on the part of Washington.
I think Martin said all that needs to be said.
Alan, no I was just responding to Tyler’s post. I agree that FEMA is designed as a post-response agency.
If electing an incompetent executive is all it takes to cripple such an “effective Federal program”, then the system is fundamentally flawed. If a federal program isn’t idiot-proof, then it isn’t the type of program that I want to trust my life and welfare to.
If, in a few short years, G. W. Bush was able to do all the damage you said he has done, completely under the radar and outside the scrutiny of the public at large… well then what sort of idiot would still support FEMA?
The question isn’t if the neglect was inexcusable… the question is if the neglect was predictable and inevitable.
If disaster relief is a decentralized system, run by a whole bunch of local governments and private institutions, then there is a natural redundancy. It is very hard for a single person to screw the system up that badly.
If you support the glorious Soviet-modeled FEMA system, then you have to accept the face that once in a while a total idiot will be elected, and every time that idiot is elected, thousands of people will die unnecessarily. If FEMA requires an a “good president” to work properly, then FEMA sucks because you can’t always bank on having a “good president”.
What country are you discussing? Certainly it isn’t the United States, where there has been nothing but a vast increase in regulation and government agencies and spending.
I think the big flaw in your thinking is that you equate more regulation and government with the effectiveness of regulation and government. You can’t accept the fact that increasing government might decrease the effectiveness of government… that the effectiveness of government is probably some sort of bell curve, and there is probably a threshold where more government actually decreases the positive effect of government.
People have been conditioned to see the government as God, an all-powerful bestower of social justice… instead of simply a social machine that operates according to immutable rules of nature. If government fails, it must be a conspiracy by evil people who oppose social justice – It can’t possibly be that there are flaws and limitations in the institution of government itself.
I love the fact that we a have a President who can be blamed for all of our national woes – it makes it possible for us to stop bothering to try and really understand what happened.
I have not read the paper – but will – but I personally believe that the “logistics” and demographics of New Orleans played a very large role – and continues to have an impact.
A service based economy with a very large need for low wage workers that is below sea level and in an isolated area creates unique challenges.
“So have the surge in tainted food products, unsafe toys and liars mortgages proven or disproven the argument that the capitalist system is self regulating and that regulators are not necessary?” Firstly UI disagree that any deregulation has occured in these areas. As Tylor pointed out a few weeks ago the US has one of the tightest banking regulatory systems of any nation. Second I would say that the market responded to these errors faster than any government regulation. The stock has fallen in response to all of the areas youi mentioned this means that both investors and consumers have withdrawn their support punishing them for their neglect. Civil courts will continue to dishout justice. The government on the otherhand seems to be rewarding these companies with subsidies. I ask you spencer, which is the failed regulatory system?
People have been conditioned to see the government as God, an all-powerful bestower of social justice… instead of simply a social machine that operates according to immutable rules of nature. If government fails, it must be a conspiracy by evil people who oppose social justice – It can’t possibly be that there are flaws and limitations in the institution of government itself.
By this logic, my car is a piece of crap since it is liable to crash when I fall asleep behind the wheel.
I wrote some similar points in a policy brief two years ago, available here.
Mason asks, wasn’t FEMA just put into DHS? Yes, when DHS was created post-9/11. The point is, that was a tremendous mistake. FEMA ended up spending too much time focusing on terrorism prevention, and too little time focusing on preparing for disaster response (whether natural or man-made). There was never a good reason to put FEMA in DHS. Pulling it out and making it independent again, with a mandate of being prepared to respond to disasters, and prepared to coordinate with both state/local authorities and private organizations is the best–but unfortunately unlikely–option.
Spencer,
If you need an example of regulated institutions causing boom and bust cycles look only to the real estate problems of the late 1980s that led to what is known as the S&L crisis, look to the sovereign debt crisis of the mid-1980s and then look at the real estate crisis of the mid-late 1970s. All caused by lax lending at insured depository institutions.
You car *IS* a fundamentally flawed system if you have a reasonable expectation that you will fall asleep behind the wheel on a regular basis. It is even more flawed if 300 million people happened to be riding in your backseat, and one mistake is a national disaster.
If you have to buy vis, please come to our company.
It is enlightening!
I believe that there should be a certain time limit that allows citizens to recieve help from groups such as FEMA. The maximum amount of time given should not pass a year. The reason I think there needs to be a time limit is because, unfortunately, there are people out there that will take advantage of the system. It is horrible for people that lose their homes and belongings and as a government we should have groups such as FEMA and HUD to help out but not for people to live off of for long periods of time.
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