From Despair to Hope? The Reconstruction of New Orleans and Its Affect on U.S. Poverty

Hurricane Katrina, undisputedly one of the largest natural disasters in American history, has not only caused immeasurable devastation to the Gulf Coast region, but has made it impossible to ignore the broader issue of national poverty.

In the wake of this tragedy, our country faces a number of difficult questions regarding the responsibilities of private parties, state and local governments and the federal government--both to prevent inadequate responses to future disasters and to plan and pay for the reconstruction.

What, if anything, does the government at each level owe the displaced? Who should decide how reconstruction will look and who will pay for it? Will the post-Katrina policy debate soon echo the welfare reform controversy of the 1980s and 1990s? What effect will the latest bankruptcy law have on the hurricane victims and economy as a whole?

Panel:

Josh B. Bolten '80, director, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President of the United States

Reuben Jeffery III, JD/MBA '80, chairman, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and former special assistant to the president, and senior director for international economic affairs, U.S. Department of State

Leon Panetta, director, The Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy; former director , Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President of the United States

Moderator:

Hon. Richard L. Morningstar '70, adjunct lecturer in public policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and former United States ambassador to the European Union

This event is part of Stanford Law School's Alumni Weekend 2005