Will the $185k fine against the Airbnb host in NY make people afraid of using Airbnb?

I doubt so.

This is an example of what in political science goes under the name of “the authoritarian illusion of the powerful” whereby those in power pretend to prohibit something by simply out-lawing it and issuing a fine or penalty against a behaviour which is believed by a critical mass of the people in the community to be a legitimate and/or un-harmful service or exploit of resources. Continue reading “Will the $185k fine against the Airbnb host in NY make people afraid of using Airbnb?”