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This is not a fair argument. Why should you assume that condos is the 'correct' thing for this land and factory is the 'wrong' thing? Isn't that for the market
by cfmcdonald 8y ago
This is not a fair argument. Why should you assume that condos is the 'correct' thing for this land and factory is the 'wrong' thing? Isn't that for the market to decide? What if I told you someone was offering to buy the property to replace it with an orphanage, would you say this woman is denying poor, helpless children a place of refuge?
Isn't this woman exercising her property rights in a perfectly fair way within the market economy that we have, in exactly the same way that so many developers have exercised their rights to tear down X and replace it with Y, where many people might have preferred to keep X?
- djmobley 8y agoShe is an irrational actor who is preventing a more efficient allocation of a scarce resource. If she weren’t so notably irrational, the New York Times wouldn’t be writing an article on her.
- lm28469 8y ago> She is an irrational actor Human beings are deeply irrational, not everything has to be tweaked for maximum output / productivity / efficiency / optimisation.
- mixmastamyk 8y agoThere is a nationwide housing crisis in city centers, so yes, this could stand some tweaking for more efficiency.
- fixvzbdjzis 8y agoWell build over Central Park or whatever other irrational allocation of land you cherish.
- AngryData 8y agoSounds like an inevitable problem of too high of a population density. We have plenty of land elsewhere, maybe we should be looking at fixing our transportation systems and incentivizing work outside of these areas so that we don't have to all pile together like cords of wood.
- mixmastamyk 8y agoFew American cities are very dense at all. Density is more efficient, cheaper in hidden infrastructure costs, better for the environment, and promotes walking for better health.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- britch 8y agoIrrational if all you care about is money. Pretty rational if you care about preserving your heritage and history.
- stronglikedan 8y agoShe's not "preventing a more efficient allocation of a scarce resource." She's "preventing reallocation of her own resource." Good for her! Only she knows what's best for her property. There's nothing irrational about doing what you want with what you got. It's the opposite that's irrational.
- JAlexoid 8y agoActually... She is being irrational, because her decision is clearly made on emotional grounds. But it's her right. I hope it bites her, but it's her right to be irrational.
- sokoloff 8y agoThough that's the story being portrayed (because "fully rational person does fully rational things" doesn't get many clicks/much interest), it's quite possible that the actual strategy is as suggested here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19119286 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19119286
- thfuran 8y ago>Only she knows what's best for her property. There's nothing irrational about doing what you want with what you got. Wait, so is it supposed to be the market deciding or this one lady?
- cfmcdonald 8y agoThere is no difference? The market is the sum of the decisions of individual actors.
- fixvzbdjzis 8y ago“irrational actor“ The only irrational actor in economics is “homo economicus” itself. She is being perfectly rational. She likes the place, and the memories she forged there. Besides, a few million is a joke. Only a fool would sell cherished memories for mere millions! Millions that aren’t going away if she doesn’t sell. You sell because you need to. Because you’re moving on. Not to please the NYT wrote an editorial
- dfxm12 8y agoshe is not rushing to rent it out. Before seeking a new commercial tenant, she wants to find the right way to dispose of all the old equipment, file cabinets and other workplace detritus. Rushing into things, taking the first offer, etc. This is irrational. Finding the right way to "dispose" of equipment, i.e. finding the highest bidder or, failing that, the closest scrapyard, before finding a new leasee, is not irrational.
- cfmcdonald 8y agoLuckily we don't live in a society where people are forced to allocate their resources to where other people think they are most efficient.