What do we talk about when we talk about the economic impact of the arts?

April 30, 2013 by Michael Rushton In the news from Britain in the past week has been a speech by Culture Minister Maria Miller on the arts and the economy in the UK – the full text is here. Commentary has ranged from the concern about putting too much emphasis on the economic, to how we ought to define cultural industries in the contemporary world. I would like to focus on what linkages the Minister sees between culture and the economy. As Tim Harford notes, the speech is a bit of a jumble, so let us try to untangle some of the knots. I see three kinds of ways to think about the arts in the economy.

The first is exemplified by this part of the Minister’s speech: Just last week I hosted a reception to launch the Buxton Opera Festival. Their audiences have tripled in a decade. They have won national and regional tourism awards. They have diversified their income streams, and as a result they have generated more than a million in turnover. The other side of the Peak District, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park supports around 100 full time jobs, and is delivering close to £5 million of economic impact to its local community. These are unqualified local success stories. # Read More