Can New Orleans Bounce Back?

Chicago Fire of 1871“[A]ccording to economists who have studied the question…while it may take years, cities are resilient and usually bounce back from the worst natural or man-made devastation. “Even nuclear bombs and fire bombing of cities was not enough to change the level and nature of economic activity,” says Columbia University economist Donald R. Davis, who studied Japanese reconstruction. “People don’t abandon their cities, and indeed industries don’t abandon the cities they’re in.”

A look back at four U.S. disasters suggests that cities usually rebound from devastation. WSJ has the story.

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