Dr. Julien Mercille:

Yes. It is a good question. Again, it is impossible to give a clear or precise answer. I would say that in the case of the housing bubble, people just chose not to talk about it. The "Prime Time" report is a good example. Not many of the shows that were about the bubble denied that it was happening. It is just that there were very few shows about it. The graph I have presented to the committee contains two figures that show the same thing. I think I have mentioned that a few articles about the bubble appeared before 2008. The articles in question were not necessarily critical of what was going on or warning about it. Many of them said "you may have heard there is a bubble out there, but it is not true - we talked to experts and rest assured it is fine". This does not even mean they were talking about it. In most cases, I would say it is a question of denial. The same point applies to a lot of things. When was the last time it was on the front page that the US military has been using Shannon Airport for many years? It is not as if the media is saying "no, the US is not there"; it is just that we do not talk about it. The same point can be made about deprivation or about the health care system. We are never told that a great deal of money could be saved by having a public health care system. Much of it is just not addressed. When it is, the views of elites are usually taken as a driver. Again, this does not mean it is wrong or right - it just means this is the viewpoint that is being heard.