Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Cars ad dependency crowds out real news

Billions of dollars are spent advertising cars. This money produces nothing, so it is a complete waste. It comes from the car buyer, so it is not strictly a subsidy. But the rest of us are giving up access to real news and information when editors are compromised by car ad money. Can't even put a dollar number on that subsidy.
Why Newspapers *Love* Cars: "Next time you flick through a newspaper, or look at a news website just take note of how much of the advertising is for cars, or car-related products, such as insurance. It’s truly remarkable, but not when you look at the stats:"

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A Tale of two Subsidies

Strong Towns: "we spend lavishly to promote homeownership and to ensure that private automobiles remain as inexpensive and convenient as possible."

$450 Billion in Federal Subsidies Tilt U.S. Real Estate Market Toward Sprawl | Streetsblog Capitol Hill

$450 Billion in Federal Subsidies Tilt U.S. Real Estate Market Toward Sprawl | Streetsblog Capitol Hill: "Overall, the report suggests, federal real estate interventions undermine market trends toward the development of more walkable places. About 85 percent of federal housing subsidies flow to single-family housing over multi-family, although only 65 percent of American households are homeowners and the majority of renters live in multi-family buildings. This has hampered the market for rental housing even as demand for multi-family rental housing has soared following the housing bust."