Part of the problem is that housing in the US is treated as a commodity and used for investment. Purchasing a house isn’t just so you have someplace to live, but rather it’s treated as an investment that must appreciate in value over its lifetime. This is in stark contrast to every other major living expense. You don’t purchase a car and expect to be able to sell it for more than you paid for it a decade later, but somehow that’s the expectation with housing.
In a traditional market prices would rise and fall to match supply and demand, but because housing is treated as an investment, there’s a strong pressure to never let the prices fall. If someone can’t make a profit selling their house they’ll rent it out instead or even let it sit empty until such a time as they think they can make a profit selling it, which means the only way to reliably bring the prices of housing down in the US is to build new housing, and even then the effects of that are limited and highly localized. Outside of that the only time houses come down is in catastrophic events like the sub-prime mortgage fiasco.
Is just building more houses enough? I live in a brand new house in a brand new neighborhood. I bought right before COVID and since then my house has gone up 60k in value. I’m watching the builder raise their prices for the same floor plan by 60k to match.
I guess if you overbuild then maybe there’s pressure for it to go down? But right now I’m seeing new build prices match inflation of the housing market even though building cost inflation aren’t matching home valuation inflation.
It’s a complicated problem. The builder wants to make as much profit as possible, so they’re going to build what they think they can sell at the current market rate. If high end housing isn’t selling and a bunch of mansions are all for sale with nobody buying they’re not going to build more mansions, instead they’ll shoot for lower cost housing that there’s demand for. However that’s still going to leave a bunch of people unable to afford a house if there are still other people in the market able to afford more expensive houses. This then gets even more complicated by people who don’t actually need a house, but are instead purchasing houses as investments who then end up buying many of those new houses and artificially inflating the demand and therefore the prices.
At some point though, demand will be entirely met, at the high end and builders will be forced to move down market to keep selling property. Municipalities can help address some of this by zoning and requiring a decent mix of low, mid, and high income housing to be built, but once again “investors” and even worse investment companies can screw this up by snapping up the low income housing and converting it into rentals, or simply sitting on it for some period of time.
As with most problems that haven’t been solved yet, there’s no easy solution (because if it was easy to solve, it would be already).
Who the fuck thinks it’s sustainable to keep raising the price of housing indefinitely? If people’s salaries aren’t also going up indefinitely, who will be able to afford to buy it?
Shhhh… It’s only price gouging if it’s gas stations during a weather crisis. All other companies doing it during (and after) a pandemic is called capitalism, and it’s unamerican to not like that.
Supposedly the studios are only allowed to train their AI on scripts THEY own. Not sure how much that matters if you’re a writer working for a studio, but as an outsider looking in, that seems to be what made the difference for the WGA.
Also, this tentative deal would only last up to September of 2026 so either way this deal has an expiration date. Does that mean that studios can do whatever they want with their AI after this date? How much more advanced is AI going to get in these 3 years? Do writers now have a 3 year lifespan remanining?
I think we're going to see a drastically different environment in less than 2 years.
Source: a friend is a newspaper reporter, and he's been telling me just how scared people are right now. It's not "happening soon" -- it has already happened and we are merely catching up to it. People don't seem to think it counts as "happening" until the last domino falls, but the dominos are falling right now.
Interesting didn’t know that. It does explain how the quality of articles have gone down in the last year our two. Wonder how many we have read that was written by a bot over a human?
How much more advanced is AI going to get in these 3 years? Do writers now have a 3 year lifespan remanining?
It probably doesn't matter if AI gets more advanced. Cheap will always win out over quality when corporations are involved, and AI writing is dirt cheap compared to paying a human being. See: the recent controversy with the opening of 'Secret Invasion' using AI art.
the recent controversy with the opening of ‘Secret Invasion’ using AI art.
I don’t think yo understood what happened. The studio that was commissioned the intro animation probably was paid the average for such VFX sequence, they just happened to use AI as a starting point. And trust me (I work for an “content” agency), everyone has been using AI tools for years in the industry.
Anyway, she point is that humans were still involved in 99% of the process, as always. An it’s gonna stay that way for years (in VFX).
Union contracts don’t just expire. The contract has a 3 year term. At that point, an updated contract will need to be negotiated. If the 3 year period ends without a new contract, but the new parties are still making progress in the negotiations, the workers will continue to work under the terms of the old contract until the new one is completed.
If the negotiations are not going well, if they reach an impasse, then strikes or lockouts can happen.
Regardless, any terms in a union contract cannot be removed unless both parties agree to their removal. AI advancement or decisions by the studios could very well lead to another strike in 3 years, but any terms related to AI, or any other language in the contract will not automatically disappear at the end of the 3 year term.
It means that writers will be back to negotiate (possibly for significantly better terms) in 2026 should AI become a big money maker. By then it'll have been too late and AI will have killed the industry.
Nobody wants to watch AI generated movies or listen to AI generated music.
I want to make my own AI generated movies and I’m very interested in watching other people’s work when it starts coming out. Not everyone needs to be spoon fed their entertainment by billion dollar companies.
I think writers need this to be over so they can get back to work. This isn’t just fun summer break going on here, peoples lives are being put on hold. Doesn’t mean it’s a good deal though.
So when they inevitably do, will you crown me and say kind words about my prowess in predicting the future? Or maybe just recognize that the writers simply want this over…
If I turn out to be wrong, would me saying “guess I was wrong” not be enough for you? I have to bow and scrape at your feet? Really? Because if that’s what you expect me to do, you can go get fucked.
Likely what happened is writers are seeing what a mess AI generated art is, so they're letting the industry to have this as it might end up in a quite bad for them.
creditnews.com Record-low housing affordability is setting off a vicious cycle | Creditnews 4 - 5 minutes
Housing affordability has reached an all-time low in the U.S., according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
The NAR’s latest Quarterly Housing Affordability Index shows that affordability plummeted to 92.7 in the second quarter of the year, down from 101.8 in Q1 and 169.9 as recently as 2020.
A score of 100 indicates that a household with the median U.S. income has 100% of the funds necessary to qualify for a mortgage on a median-price house. Anything below that, and most households can’t really afford to buy a home.
The situation is even worse for first-time buyers, with NAR’s index showing that affordability for this group has slumped to 61.4, down from 67.4 in Q1 2023 and from 111.9 in 2020.
In other words, first-time buyers with a median income today have roughly 61% of the income to qualify for a mortgage (assuming a 20% down payment).
High interest rates and stagnant or falling real incomes are the main causes of this drop in affordability. If these indicators worsen, Americans will have a lot more to worry about than mass foreclosures.
Housing is not only the bedrock of the economy; it has knock-on effects that could reach all the way up to the Oval Office. Big cities hit the hardest
The situation may look even grimmer depending on where in America you live, with some metropolitan areas scoring much lower on the affordability index than others.
In the New York-Jersey City-White Plains (NY-NJ) area, for example, affordability has declined from 121.1 in 2019 to 72.4 in 2022, the last available year with complete data.
In Salt Lake City, the same measure plummeted from 134.5 to 82.5 over the same period, while in Boston-Cambridge-Newton it has fallen from 123.9 to 87.6.
These are only a few examples of the unaffordability of homes in populous American urban areas, with every metropolitan area witnessing declines in affordability since 2019.
The cost of mortgages isn’t only a problem for anyone who’s ever dreamed of owning their own slice of America, since it also has serious consequences for the wider U.S. economy.
Living costs, which include mortgages and rents, tend to impact consumer spending, with surveys this year showing that as many as 92% of Americans have cut back on their spending due to rising prices.
That Americans have less money to spend because of housing unaffordability is also indicated by the rising rate of foreclosures, which rose by 7% in August compared to the previous month.
The problem with declining spending is that it has knock-on effects on businesses, which experience lower revenues and profits as a result. In turn, a decline in their revenues and profits may ultimately hurt U.S. stocks, which by extension can hurt investment portfolios and pensions, creating a vicious circle.
Investment strategists are warning of a “meaningful earnings recession” for stocks. According to Morgan Stanley, the earnings of S&P 500 companies are expected to fall 16% this year. Affordability gets political ahead of election year
Frustration in the housing market could make its way to the White House as more disgruntled voters seek solutions to the affordability crisis.
President Joe Biden has launched several attempts at mitigating the current crisis, with his administration introducing a Housing Supply Action Plan in 2022 and also including measures to help households in his latest budget.
Yet the NAR’s data makes it clear that such measures haven’t had much effect. According to CBS, Biden’s approval rating has declined due to a “lack of home affordability,” among other factors related to the economy.
The apparent failure of housing policy means that many Americans will continue to struggle to make ends meet, which in turn could lead to more political disaffection.
And the problem could get worse in the pivotal election year. Home prices—as high as they are—will likely rise in 2024, according to the NAR.
It depends on the outcome of the strike. If Fain leads the union to major gains for members and then says Trump is bad for the union that holds a lot of weight and could be enough to sway the couple thousand voters in swing states away from Trump. Remember 2020 was decided by around 40k votes in 5 states.
Exactly, one way to change people’s minds is to give them the results they need while being clear about where it comes from. You won’t out promise trump, he got Ohio by swearing up and down he was sympathetic to our steel and coal workers. He swore miracles. Fain is helping our auto workers take what they deserve, what they need. When the food on your table and the roof above your head are there thanks to the union and they make sure you understand that then you aren’t looking for some gold covered businessman from the coast to convince you he understands and will hurt the right people for you and in doing so work miracles.
I think a lot of folks have already written off a lot of places that are traditionally won or lost politically on union power. Strong union gains might even bring cracks in how heavily stacked some former swing states are.
How many wars have been fought because of someone’s god? How many people have been murdered because they worshiped the same god in a different way? How many children have been abused because the adults thought they were following their god’s will? Religion is harmful.
You guys really harp on that one gold nugget found in a pile of shit. Wow you get slightly lower alcoholism rates if you believe in skydaddy. Big freaken deal. It doesn’t excuse or makeup for anything.
Thank you. I’ll get hammered with downvotes but not everyone who believes in God is a moron, or a Republican, or a Trump supporter, or anti-science, or homophobic, or judgmental or any other shit like that. Some of us are pretty normal.
You must be a pretty terrible Christian, because the Bible is overwhelmingly anti-science and God’s stance on homosexuality couldn’t be any clearer. I don’t think you’re allowed to pick and choose what parts of the Bible to follow 🤔
You arent wrong. Neuroscience has proven that your God believes the same things you believe. Isn’t that amazing? The being that like 14,000,000,000 years ago made the entire universe and has been managing every moment with at least a precision of .000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000044 seconds while managing 2-8 x 1,000,000,000,000 galaxies each containing 1-4 x 100,000,000,000 stars happens to agree with you about masturbation.
Christians are a diverse bunch. I've seen people claiming the label who do and do not believe the Bible is inerrant or sometimes even inspired. I've seen people who claim the label practice rituals that look very similar to what some Wiccans do.
The reality though is that every Christian picks and chooses. People should be held responsible for how they behave, not the labels they claim or the trauma you've incurred by people claiming that label.
I understand why so many take issue with right wing American evangelicals who can't even manage to align with Jesus himself, but the bigotry I've seen today is just depressing.
Who cares that the rituals are a bit different? It is still the religion with the highest kill count and the source of worldwide problems. Just within my lifetime Christianity led a crusade into Iraq that killed a million people and sent crises all over the region.
You’re allowed to believe whatever you like. I’ve been an atheist since I realized the other kids believed in Noah, but let people keep whatever tiny thing gives them comfort, especially if they do it while expanding the church to accept anyone.
I never once ever called a person a moron for believing in skydaddy. I know it simply isn’t true because I have worked with plenty of wicked smart skydaddy followers. Also I was one and didn’t get any smarter when I left religion.
The rest of the stuff yeah sure you are all basically the same. Don’t really care that some of you pretend to be otherwise on the internet. I have seen how you vote and that is all the data I need. Sorry your Pope is having legal issues now.
Weird. I’m a moderate liberal who voted for Biden but by all means continue to believe in your stereotypes. I’m also not Catholic and could give two shits about the Pope.
I’ll stop saying that when theists stop thinking atheists eat babies or are in league with some sort of archfiend that only exists in their own religion.
You’re right. Believing in the literal existence of any god or supernatural entity obviously doesn’t imply that the believer is a moron in a general intellectual sense. There are plenty of highly skilled and academically-inclined religious people, including scientists. However, such beliefs do reflect an inability or stubborn unwillingness to align with a scientific worldview, which in turn suggests some form of psychological weakness. I mean, honestly, what would you think of someone who believes in the literal existence of fairies, ghosts, and invisible dragons and organized their world view around those beliefs? You may not actively dislike or discriminate against such people, but you would wonder at their psychological constitution and susceptibility to delusion. And surely you would be worried if they became a majority and started voting for politicians whose goal is to align your society with their invisible magic dragon worship. It’s just so…utterly ridiculous. That’s why atheists use the shorthand moniker “moron” when referring to religious people. We don’t mean that religious people are literally intellectually incapable, just that they hold an inexplicably stupid and inconsistent worldview. The negativity component doesn’t apply to the fairy-believers and dragon-worshippers because they are an unthreatening fringe. Christians and Muslims, however, are large, dangerous, and politically influential groups who have shown a tendency towards forcing their views on others. And a majority of Christians, especially the most vocal ones, do vote for Trump. I don’t hate all individual Christians or Muslims, who can be perfectly nice people, but I really do hate public and especially political religious expression.
I can definitely agree with you that many religious people attempt to force their beliefs on others. Many also use faith for monetary gain or power. It’s a serious problem.
I fully support a woman's right to choose without conditions because I believe it's wrong to require that someone keep someone else alive with their own body. It removes that person's agency and reduces them to less than a person. We can't require that people donate organs after they die, so we obviously can't require that they host another person against their will.
A person should have more rights and protections than a corpse. Obviously.
Lemmy stinks like shit lately. I never subbed to r/atheism for this reason. Then we got Hexbear pretending that pictures of pigs pooping on their balls is activism. This is like every other reddit alternative: after a few months, only the most unsavory people stick around. It’s miserable here.
I mean ... what did they think the result of those low effort posts would be, exactly? I've been on the Internet long enough to see far, FAR worse than that. All it does is clutter up a thread.
OTOH, threads like these are great for my blocklist. Makes it easy to screen out histrionic bigots that can't differentiate between an Episcopalian or United Methodist with a gay priest who's worst crime against humanity involves providing housing for folks in their community and some batshit nuts Evangelical White Nationalist.
Smart move, Trump's word is worthless and any concessions he might agree to give to unions aren't worth a damn. He's always been happy to fuck over workers for the leisure class.
He doesn’t pay his own fucking lawyers. And in case anyone was in a coma from 2016-2020, Trump did absolutely fuck-all to help union workers - or just non-rich people in general - unless it also happened to personally benefit him.
news
Newest
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.