4 ms·

The solution should be simple: allow billboard ads, but tax them based on surface area. Use the tax revenue to hire more street sweepers. This shouldn't be hard

by f00zz 5y ago

The solution should be simple: allow billboard ads, but tax them based on surface area. Use the tax revenue to hire more street sweepers. This shouldn't be hard to implement, as the city is already quite effective at fining businesses that do not comply with Cidade Limpa. Want to turn a building facade into a giant LED billboard, Shenzhen style? Fine, just pay up. Everybody wins. This kind of policy would make sense for a quaint old European town, but here we're talking about the largest city in a developing country. Generally as a developing country your first priority should be to, well, develop. The last thing you want to do is stifle economic activity.

marcosdumay 5y ago
Ok, I could agree with that tax. But it's not the sweeper service that will make the city beautiful, sweeping is a bare minimum. But anyway, how does advertising relates to development? Do you have a clear answer to this? Because not every economic activity feeds the development process, some even slow it down.
- f00zz 5y ago
  > But it's not the sweeper service that will make the city beautiful Sure, but you can't force by law those decrepit buildings along the Minhocao to renovate. At least with advertising income they would be able to afford a paint job. > how does advertising relates to development? Everyone hates advertising, but it's an important driver for competition. A new business has no chance of breaking into an existing market without advertising, for instance (though I guess the internet has made outdoor ads less important). Not to mention the direct jobs that were lost with Cidade Limpa.
  - marcosdumay 5y ago
    > Sure, but you can't force by law those decrepit buildings along the Minhocao to repaint. Hum... Technically you can. The fight would really not be worth it, but the city can pass a law that fines eye-sores. Anyway, you seem to want something aligned with my first comment up there of conditioning ads on a well maintained structures. That would very likely work too. About advertisement, it is one of those industries that look like if they reduced by orders of magnitude the value they provide would increase. If that's the case, the right thing to do is to allow it, but tax it heavily (so all of those proposals are quite good). But "looks like" is a bad basis for actual policy, real data would be much better.

by f00zz 5y ago

marcosdumay 5y ago

Ok, I could agree with that tax. But it's not the sweeper service that will make the city beautiful, sweeping is a bare minimum. But anyway, how does advertising relates to development? Do you have a clear answer to this? Because not every economic activity feeds the development process, some even slow it down.

f00zz 5y ago
> But it's not the sweeper service that will make the city beautiful Sure, but you can't force by law those decrepit buildings along the Minhocao to renovate. At least with advertising income they would be able to afford a paint job. > how does advertising relates to development? Everyone hates advertising, but it's an important driver for competition. A new business has no chance of breaking into an existing market without advertising, for instance (though I guess the internet has made outdoor ads less important). Not to mention the direct jobs that were lost with Cidade Limpa.
- marcosdumay 5y ago
  > Sure, but you can't force by law those decrepit buildings along the Minhocao to repaint. Hum... Technically you can. The fight would really not be worth it, but the city can pass a law that fines eye-sores. Anyway, you seem to want something aligned with my first comment up there of conditioning ads on a well maintained structures. That would very likely work too. About advertisement, it is one of those industries that look like if they reduced by orders of magnitude the value they provide would increase. If that's the case, the right thing to do is to allow it, but tax it heavily (so all of those proposals are quite good). But "looks like" is a bad basis for actual policy, real data would be much better.