Microsoft pledges $500M for affordable housing in Seattle area
This is great and all, but part of me is really cynical about corporate philanthropy like this.<p>First off, all but $25 of the $500M will be loaned out to developers at below-market interest rates and the other $25 will be donated to related services. Good on Microsoft for committing capital that could be put to other uses, but this isn&#x27;t a donation; it&#x27;s philanthropic lending. Depending on the interest rates of these loans, they&#x27;ll wind up keeping much of that principle. Yes, people will surely benefit from this, but this looks really conservative for such a headline.<p>Corporate taxation is a hot-button issue these days, but one can&#x27;t help but notice how easy it is to shun government for being wasteful in providing housing services while private industry is being applauded to essentially buy the process of welfare. And while there are heated debates about what major companies should contribute (or avoid contributing) in taxes, can we even agree that affordable housing sponsored by private money is a little contradictory here?