Anchor the ship, but don't let passengers get on just yet

I received the above email.

In the article I read in the Dallas newspaper, it said that New Orleans had basically a 3rd World Economy (I would suggest that the economy was more Carribean than anything, but what do I know?) which was based solely on tourism. This email/ad makes me think that the powers that be want to keep it that way. How about making New Orleans a new breed of city with an educated populace and create a technology friendly city (like Columbus, OH) and start stealing tech jobs from other places with our lower cost of living and exquisite Cajun/Creole/Caribbean/South Louisiana culture. Perhaps there are more ideas out there, but let's think about it a little.