5 ms·

I think much of the value you lost went into the pockets of your landlord and the local businesses you patronize (which is what you wanted?). How exactly do you

by punee 11y ago

I think much of the value you lost went into the pockets of your landlord and the local businesses you patronize (which is what you wanted?). How exactly do you suggest your money ends up in the pockets of advertisers? I'd love to hear it.

mironathetin 11y ago
I guess, cities advertise for themselves because of tax reasons (you work there, you pay your taxes there). And ads for cities are supported by local businesses. They pay for the ads and get paid by you in return, if you fall for the ads and move.
- jerf 11y ago
  You have to be careful if you start thinking that way. It's a good way to think, but it takes care. I can just as easily draw diagrams that prove that all the money ends up in government's hands: 25% of your income is tax, %X of your spend goes to cover taxes paid by various corporations which have to cover the taxes of all their corporations which are covering taxes of all those corporations all of which have to pay their employees who pay taxes so all labor costs are also hidden taxes, my gosh, everywhere you look it's just money going to the government! The solution is that at each step, other money is also coming in, diluting the "tax" flow in various ways before everything ends up there. Likewise "advertising" and "inefficiencies" and "the pockets of the 1%" and all sorts of other things like that. I doubt very much of the cost-of-living delta between a city and a suburb or the country has to do with advertising.
- wcummings 11y ago
  Those are tourism ads
jondubois 11y ago
The rent is high because of demand - Which is driven by advertising - Which someone has to pay for.
- punee 11y ago
  If only we knew who's buying all the advertising, maybe it would start making sense. Walk me through the causal process here. Does it go something like... Landlords want more money so they devise a massive marketing campaign, including a complete cultural narrative, TV series, movies, and even gasp whole companies created out of thin air. They infiltrate media outlets to con dreamers into coming to their city, and expect to charge them 10x more than they used to pay in rent. They have to, after all, to cover the costs of the largest ad campaign ever created in the universe. And it's a massive success! It just worked. Whoa. Or... Maybe that's just not very realistic. Maybe your rent is high because you live in a city with a flourishing job market for highly qualified and highly paid workers who came there to find new jobs, and whose real estate market has a chronically low supply of housing due to various cultural or regulatory reasons.
  - glenstein 11y ago
    Maybe there's a convergence of shared interests across all advertisers that serves to create a culture of consumption? I don't think it's that hard to explain or that it requires the positing of any sort of conspiracy.
    - reagency 11y ago
      Maybe there is a whole human culture of consumption and it isn't the advertisers fault that humans are greedy. No need to play the victim card all the time.
      - glenstein 11y ago
        Or maybe they exist symbiotically? And the role advertising plays is to accelerate the feedback loop in a way that's beneficial to the interests of their employers. Not to mention, advertising often has been used to create markets out of thin air: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/82feb/8202diamond1.htm http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/82feb/8202diamond1.ht...
    - punee 11y ago

by punee 11y ago

mironathetin 11y ago

I guess, cities advertise for themselves because of tax reasons (you work there, you pay your taxes there). And ads for cities are supported by local businesses. They pay for the ads and get paid by you in return, if you fall for the ads and move.

jerf 11y ago
You have to be careful if you start thinking that way. It's a good way to think, but it takes care. I can just as easily draw diagrams that prove that all the money ends up in government's hands: 25% of your income is tax, %X of your spend goes to cover taxes paid by various corporations which have to cover the taxes of all their corporations which are covering taxes of all those corporations all of which have to pay their employees who pay taxes so all labor costs are also hidden taxes, my gosh, everywhere you look it's just money going to the government! The solution is that at each step, other money is also coming in, diluting the "tax" flow in various ways before everything ends up there. Likewise "advertising" and "inefficiencies" and "the pockets of the 1%" and all sorts of other things like that. I doubt very much of the cost-of-living delta between a city and a suburb or the country has to do with advertising.
wcummings 11y ago
Those are tourism ads

jondubois 11y ago

The rent is high because of demand - Which is driven by advertising - Which someone has to pay for.

punee 11y ago
If only we knew who's buying all the advertising, maybe it would start making sense. Walk me through the causal process here. Does it go something like... Landlords want more money so they devise a massive marketing campaign, including a complete cultural narrative, TV series, movies, and even gasp whole companies created out of thin air. They infiltrate media outlets to con dreamers into coming to their city, and expect to charge them 10x more than they used to pay in rent. They have to, after all, to cover the costs of the largest ad campaign ever created in the universe. And it's a massive success! It just worked. Whoa. Or... Maybe that's just not very realistic. Maybe your rent is high because you live in a city with a flourishing job market for highly qualified and highly paid workers who came there to find new jobs, and whose real estate market has a chronically low supply of housing due to various cultural or regulatory reasons.
- glenstein 11y ago
  Maybe there's a convergence of shared interests across all advertisers that serves to create a culture of consumption? I don't think it's that hard to explain or that it requires the positing of any sort of conspiracy.
  - reagency 11y ago
    Maybe there is a whole human culture of consumption and it isn't the advertisers fault that humans are greedy. No need to play the victim card all the time.
    - glenstein 11y ago
      Or maybe they exist symbiotically? And the role advertising plays is to accelerate the feedback loop in a way that's beneficial to the interests of their employers. Not to mention, advertising often has been used to create markets out of thin air: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/82feb/8202diamond1.htm http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/82feb/8202diamond1.ht...
  - punee 11y ago