Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> Propaganda piece from economists.

I was under the same impression. The whole article is full of "but what about". If you follow the money this is not surprising, the managers, who also happen to own real estate in New York / California, want their workers occupying their expansive office space and living near it so the real estate bubble doesn't pop right now. So they had the NYT write an article about it.



It’s a bit bad practice to assume all research that promotes an opinion you agree with is truth, but anything against what you like must be propaganda.


It's not just the part about promoting an opinion that make it propaganda, it's the part about promoting an opinion that a. there is a problem at all, and b. advocating for a particular solution to the problem as defined.

A huge part of propaganda is about setting the terms of the debate. Ideally, as George Orwell wisely pointed out, a successful propagandist makes certain opinions seem obvious, common-sensical, and even inevitable, while making other ideas all but literally unthinkable.

So next time you read an opinion you disagree with, ask, "what would happen if that opinion were the dominant one in society?"


I'm not assuming anything except my main hypothesis which is simply following the corporate money interests. If I was a rich corporate owner, what would I do?

Well, I'd own real estate, I'd probably own it in expansive places such as NY and California, and I would use the media to influence public opinion and policies to advantage me.


Just because rich people might like something, doesn’t make it not true.


Not simply "like", but actually having a substantial vested financial interest and having the means and opportunity to do something about it.

It has been shown by numerous studies that donations and lobbying by big financial interests determine the vast majority of public policy than popular democratic choice.


If they are losing money as fast as commercial real estate is dropping, it's guaranteed they'd do anything in their power to reverse it.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: