If the election has taught us anything, it’s that polls and surveys can be misleading and even biased. Our discussion on the affordable housing crisis in New York was based off two extremely biased studies. The David Binder study was funded by Airbnb and therefore its data was in line with the company’s best interests. The “Short Changing New York City: The Impact of Airbnb on New York City’s Housing Market” study was funded by those advocating for social justice and for low income families in need of affordable housing. In my opinion, the fact that both of these studies are funded by those with opinions on Airbnb’s impact on affordable housing in New York, we can not rely on them for accurate information. Even though most studies will inevitably have some sort of bias, the conflict of interest here is too obvious to ignore. The fact that Brandon, along with some others, picked up on this overlooked detail allowed us to have an informed and less biased conversation.
There was much disagreement in our discussion about what the city should do to maximize affordable housing and regulate Airbnb. Some wanted to leave it to the free market economy and the invisible hand while others wanted the government to step in and create affordable housing. However, there was one uniting opinion in the discussion- majority believed that the government was only stepping in for tax revenue and because of the hotel industry’s lobbyists. I think this was supported by the fact that we quickly dismissed one of the government’s main claims which was that Airbnb’s don’t meet safety standards. The fact that we thought that the government stepped in solely for taxes is not only interesting but sadly comical because it shows how little we believe in our government’s integrity.
Our discussion digressed and focused on another big company in the sharing economy- Uber. The parallels between Uber and Airbnb were striking. However, there was much less agreement on this topic. I was initially shocked by the lack of agreement but once I started thinking about it, it became clear to me. The actions of Uber were widely covered by news outlets and was highly politicized. However, Airbnb and affordable housing was not covered as extensively and was less politicized which created less polarization in our classroom.
Most of us can agree that no matter what we do want what’s best for our country and our fellow citizens. I hope we continue to have discussions like this past one and share our unique and wide range of opinions. By doing so we aren’t only sharing our beliefs but we are being better citizens.
