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Old 05-06-2008
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Andrewl Andrewl is offline
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Re: Burma (Myanmar) Cyclone and neo-liberal economics

Here is an example of neo-liberal aid for profit in New Orleans.

Profit rises, but Katrina aid stalls - Life - MSNBC.com

Two-and-a-half years after Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of miserable homeowners are still waiting for their government rebuilding checks, and many complain they can’t even get their calls returned. But the company that holds the big contract to distribute the aid is doing quite well for itself. ICF International of Fairfax, Va., has posted strong profits, gone public, landed additional multimillion-dollar government contracts, and, it was learned this week, secured a potentially big raise recently from the state of Louisiana.
In the waning days of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s administration, state officials increased the management contract ceiling from $756 million to $914 million — this, after the Legislature wanted to fire ICF over its handling of the homeowner recovery program, called Road Home.


The main point of this thread is the tendency since the 90's of western economies to subject things that were not traditionally a market function to the market and make sure somebody reaps some profit from it. This continues even though it has no record of success in these areas.

Thanks to those mature enough to respond with their brains.

Andrew
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