This report opens with a photo of the invisible hand rarin’ to go to work. (Perhaps it’s too much to note the symbolism of the invisible hand being detained, if only for a while, by agents of the state.) Note that Steve Horwitz (GMU ’88 or ’89 [Steve: remind me]) is quoted to good effect in this report. (HT Craig Kohtz, who correctly notes that “this has The Price of Everything written all over it.”)
All of which raises the question: when you and your neighbors are homeless, hungry, and thirsty following a natural disaster, would you prefer to rely upon the devotion to public service that allegedly motivates FEMA workers, or to rely upon the devotion to their own self-interests that undoubtedly motivates executives, workers, and suppliers of private companies such as Wal-Mart and Home Depot?
