The Mercatus Institute, “a university-based research center [that] works to advance knowledge about how markets work to improve our lives,” has a web page devoted to research on Hurricane Katrina. Questions explored by the Mercatus researchers include: How did New Orleans communities that have recovered since Katrina do so? What effect did social entrepreneurship have on their recovery? What kinds of government policies could facilitate a quicker recovery from future disasters? Among the experts featured are two CEE Guest Speakers, Emily Chamlee-Wright and Steven Horwitz.

Watch our video interview with Dr. Chamlee-Wright in which she talks about her research on some of the above issues.

Also, watch our interview with Dr. Horwitz on the role of Wal-Mart in New Orleans’ recovery.

Finally, explore Mercatus’ fascinating website here.

In India, there are 200 million people who need eye care and less than ten percent of them have been reached. Moreover, 80 percent of these eye problems can be easily prevented or treated. Thulasiraj Ravilla, Executive Director of the Aravind Eye Care System, talks about how the clinic manages to serve such a large number of patients each year, only 40% of them paying customers. Dr. V., the clinic’s founder, chose an interesting source of inspiration when looking for a way to deliver low cost, consistent, efficient service in India and worldwide – McDonald’s. Watch the video below.

One justification for the lower salaries of nonprofit employees relative to those of their for-profit peers is the idea of  “psychic benefit.” The emotional and spiritual riches one acquires from helping others are supposed to compensate for one’s lack of more worldly riches. Dan Pallotta of Harvard Business College believes that this argument is wrong on several levels.

Read the article here.