DALLAS — Recovery efforts in New Orleans show two totally different sides, said Peter Ricchiuti, who still has vivid memories of Hurricane Katrina.

Ricchiuti, finance professor and assistant dean of Tulane University's A.B. Freeman School of Business and Louisiana's former assistant state treasurer and chief

investment officer, will speak at Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union's Economic Forum on Oct. 16. Two years ago, Hurricane Katrina had just turned Ricchiuti's world upside down when he spoke at Southwest Corporate's 2005 Economic Forum. Personal experience enabled him to give a poignant account of activity in the storm-affected region.

“Many misconceptions still exist,” Ricchiuti said of New Orleans' sustained recovery efforts. “It really is a tale of two cities. Tourist spots have been cleaned up, rebuilt and are better than before the storm. Six blocks in any direction from that central area, though, it's a different story.”

Ricchiuti will provide an update on the residual economic impact of the storms along the Gulf Coast as well as outlook for interest rates and for energy, how China and India fit into the picture, and what role alternative fuels play.

Ricchiuti has contributed to National Public Radio's Marketplace program. His Burkenroad Reports investment research program, in which he directs a team of university business students in search of undervalued stocks, has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post and on CNN.

SW Corporate's Economic Forum will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel & Convention Center in Frisco, Texas on Oct. 16-17.

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