Too much public debate in the United States devolves into ideological silos of pro- and anti-government world views. A consequence of Louisiana's dreadful experience in the 2005 hurricanes: There is no unalloyed endorsement of the ideology of either activist-government liberals or small-government conservatives.

One analysis of the Louisiana experience by a right-wing Washington think tank, the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, provides an interesting insight into the way the facts in Louisiana don't conveniently fit into ideological boxes.

The publications about Katrina, including "Disastrous Uncertainty: How Government Disaster Policy Undermines Community Rebound," by Emily Chamlee-Wright and Daniel M. Rothschild, can be found in the Gulf Coast project section of the site at http://www.mercatus.org/.

Mercatus is among conservative organizations skeptical of government intervention in markets of almost any sort.

Given the state of New Orleans, a good argument can be made the city would be better off if still owned by the French. Instead of the erratic leadership of Mayor Ray Nagin and a parasitical political class, Paris would send out a dictator and tell everyone what to do, and everyone would have to do it.

Still, the Mercatus authors focus appropriately on the value of the neighborhood associations and social networks that have clung to homesteads and courageously rebuilt in the worst-hit places.

The authors argue the "signals coming out of civil and commercial society," including market forces but also the informal communication among neighbors, can be seriously hampered by the "signal noise" of government. The authors cast a huge net for the noisy villains of government post-Katrina, from Nagin's original "Bring New Orleans Back" commission to Gov. Kathleen Blanco's problem-plagued Road Home program.

The authors probably overstate the vitality of private aid organizations: In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the performance of many private relief organizations was outstanding, and much-needed, leading to loose comment on the right nationally about how government ought to get out of the way. Anyone who spent any time on the ground here could see how much wasted time and energy were spent by even the "nimble" private organizations.

The sheer scope of the Katrina/Rita tragedy required such a massive infusion of resources that the U.S. government was vital to rescue. It is a tribute to the intellectual honesty of the Mercatus authors that they recognize this. But, they add, "local ownership of the rebuilding process is critical."

By necessity of a small staff, the Mercatus studies - a five-year analysis and series of reports is planned - focus only on the hardest-hit parishes of Louisiana and counties of Mississippi.

Nevertheless, it's welcome to have some commentary that casts a skeptical eye at the assumptions of federal and state planners in the years ahead.