Managing Disasters Through Public-Private Partnerships

The Federal Reserve, according to this book, was probably the first disaster relief organization in the USA. It certainly did quite a lot after Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992. But at the same time, one can wonder if it was worth it. Even if the Fed provided emergency cash to banks so people could make withdrawals, what use was it if the stores weren’t open?

The War Industries Board was another government agency dealing with business; it negotiated contracts, prices, fees, and labor issues with businesses at a time when the USA couldn’t afford any work stoppages. Similarly, 9/11 was an emergency period, and the government had to provide some aid to businesses or the interdependent US economy would be ruined. But Hurricane Katrina was one disaster where Federal agencies all failed. The disaster lasted months, and Walmart had to make deals with the police and National Guard to provide free stuff in exchange for protection from looters. But it was Walmart that gave people free food and supplies anyway, so it wasn’t the government providing anything.

The US aid to Haiti was no better. Portable toilets were brought along, but no sewage burners, so the US feces flowed into the ground and gave Haiti’s poor the gift of dysentery. The Maersk Alabama, famous for its hijacking, had routine safety drills for piracy emergencies. But the US Coast Guard refused to share advice on how to handle the hijackings. In the book Dead Aid, African economist Dambissa Moyo convinces the reader that traditional assistance doesn’t work. It offers no long-term solution and leaves people dependent. She gives mosquito nets as an example; if the aid organization gives out free mosquito nets, notebooks, and water cans, the local shopkeeper will lose business.

It seems that the point of this book is that government aid works best when the agency deals with large sums of money to large organizations. Overall, things look pretty bleak.