1. Warring Perspectives

1. Warring Perspectives
Note:l arte va finanziata? 2 partiti che nn tiescono a capirsi. xchè?meglio sussidi diretti o indiretticultura liberale: il valore della diversitàconflitto tra valore ec. e valore estetico: l esperto è un consumatore qlnq?l economista deve demistificare il critico x trattarlo come un consumatore qlqn... x qs è tanto odiatoguardare ai picchi o giudicare dalla varietà dei picchispecializzazione e qualità spacchettatal economia nn muore mai x' è l unico approccio che consente facili comparazionil estetico nn considera i costi opportunità l ec. nn considera valori diversi dalle preferenzeil dogma della preferenza nn è condiviso da tutti. meglio rassegnarsipreferenze poco definite: punto debole dell economiaoccorre una teoria etica.. la ricchezza è solo una proxy x altri valori e nn sempre funzionaeconomista: l arte sussidiata crea esternalità?... esteta: l arte sussidiata crea bellezza?ARGOMENTI PRO SUSSIDIO:1 l argomento dello sviluppo: l arte attira il turismo e bla bla bla... vale x tutte le attività... moltiplicatore e esternalità sono concetti diversi... venezia e il valore della tradizione. argomento cassato2 l argomento del "ci costa poco": a testa... argomento cassato3 largomento della decentralizzazione: il talento è nascosto quanto diffuso vonviene dec. x scoprirlo (hayek). i sussidi possono aiutare il mercato a decentrarsi4 l argomento del prestigio: l orgoglio nazoonale è un esternalità dell arte... i simboli contano4 sembre l argomento sotteso ai finanziamenti centrali: il pop crea + esternalità ma non viene sussidiato... i musei sono un altro segno... l arte fa anche molti danni

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They lament how American artists are underfunded and undervalued by the state, relative to their western European counterparts.
Note:X LA LAMENTELA

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More significant questions concern the use of our tax system to support nonprofits, creating a favorable climate for philanthropy, the legal treatment of the arts, the arts in the American university, and the evolution of copyright law.
Note:x I PROBLEMI IN CAMPO

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The central issue is not, as many people suppose, how much money a given governmental agency should receive. It is hard to generate consensus on a question of this kind. Instead a more fruitful inquiry involves what general steps a government can take to promote a wide variety of healthy and diverse funding sources for the arts. For instance should we look more toward direct subsidies or indirect subsidies?
Note:x LA FALSA QUESTIONE E LA DOMANDA MIGLIORE

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The American model arguably mobilizes government more effectively than do many of the European models for arts support. We are further from artistic laissez-faire than is commonly believed to be the case.
Note:x IPOTESI DA VERIFICARE

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The American model encourages artistic creativity, keeps the politicization of art to a minimum, and brings economics and aesthetics into a symbiotic relationship. That being said, the model is not necessarily preferable for all other countries, especially those that trade with the United States and already reap benefits from the American system.
Note:x BENEFIVI MODELLO AMERICANO

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Insofar as we wish to use direct subsidies, we should restructure them to encourage greater innovation and a greater degree of decentralized support for the arts.
Note:IL PROBLEMA DELLA SCOPERTA

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critical questions in both policy evaluation and political philosophy.
Note:Ccccccc

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a liberal vision for beauty and creative human achievement.
Note:IL PUNTO FORTE DELLE ARTI AMERICANE

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a rich diversity of artistic achievement is compatible with the ideas of cultural centrality and the use of culture to bind a polity together.
Note:UNITI MA DIVERSI...CONTROINTUITIVO

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Aesthetics and Economics
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The economic approach seeks to give consumers what they want.
Note:L APPROCCIO ECONOMICISTA

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Economists measure value in terms of willingness to pay or willingness to be paid.
Note:IL VALORE ECONOMICO

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The aesthetic approach favors products that will “last the ages.”
Note:IL VALORE ESTETICO

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Matthew Arnold wrote that “culture is, or ought to be, the study and pursuit of perfection;
Note:UN CASO DI ESTETISMO

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Under the economic approach, high art is simply another minority taste
Note:L ALTA CULTURA X IL MERCATO

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American public had more respect for bus drivers and baseball players than for art critics
Note:UNA CONSEGUENZA DELL ECONOMICISMO

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economics serves as a radical attempt to demystify the perspective of the critic.
Note:ECONOMIA E POPOLO

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The Problem of Commensurability
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It is difficult to decide whether Shakespeare’s Hamlet is better than his King Lear,
Note:IL DILEMMA DELL ESTETICA

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How many Gershwin songs sum up to a Shostakovich symphony?

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Ccccccc

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When evaluating a government policy or a cultural era,
Note:COME MISURATE IL SUCESSO...PICCHI? QUANTITÀ? MEDIA?...ecc

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We care more about the successes than about the fate of every cultural undertaking.
Note:È UN FATTO DEL GIUDIZIO

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“Which age has produced the best symphony?”
Note:ESEMPIO

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What if one culture (modernity?) produces lesser creative titans but produces many more of them?
Note:DILEMMA

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we could judge an era by how good its “one hundred best composers” are, or by the aesthetic worth of its “best five thousand hours of music.”
Note:ALTRO PROBLEMA....COME SI GIUDICA UN PICCO?

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“How many excellent musical genres does an age have?”
Note:ALTRO CRITERIO LA VERIETÀ

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We have many talented composers today, in many different musical fields, even though today’s best composer is not the equal of Beethoven.
Note:LA SITUAZIONE OGGI

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Mozart’s Don Giovanni has musical beauty, terror, comedy, and a sense of the sublime, making it a favorite of opera connoisseurs.
Note:NEI GRANDI DEL PASSATO TROVAVI TUTTO

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what if consumers draw their comedy from one work, their terror from another, their beautiful music from yet another, and so on?
Note:APPROCCIO ALTERNATIVO DELLA PLAYLIST

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Yet arguably a world with unbundled qualities is superior, since it allows consumers to pick and choose how much of each quality they want, and from which source.
Note:FORSE È ANCORA MEGLIO

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Few individuals know much about eighteenth-century culture except for its peaks.
Note:XCHÈ LA NOZIONE DI PICCO S IMPONE

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The economic approach, whatever its weaknesses, has one major virtue. It makes aesthetic values commensurable, at least in principle.
Note:IL VANTAGIO DELL ECONOMIA

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So if individuals, taken collectively, are willing to pay $100,000 for a new Haydn recording, and $200,000 for a new Gershwin recording,
Note:ESEMPIO

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economic approach will be invoked repeatedly to adjudicate disputes.
Note:POPOLARITÀ DELL APPROCCIO ECONOMICO

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They tend to evaluate regimes in terms of the quality of the art that is produced, without considering the opportunity costs of that art. More and better art is equated with a better society.
Note:IL GIUDIZIO DEL PURO ESTETA HA UN VIZIO

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The economic approach reflects the view of the common man that art is not everything, or even the most important thing.
Note:Cccccccc

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It is hard to see why nonpreference values should not be admitted to a broader decision calculus.
Note:L ECONOMISTA COL PARAOCCHI VEDE SOLO LE PREFERENZE...PER LUI NN CI SONO ALTRI VALORI

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pursuing nonpreference values is religious, mystical,
Note:IL PREGIUDIZIO

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Economists have long treated merit goods as a kind of “add-on” to standard cost-benefit analysis.
Note:EPPURE GLI STRUMENTI CI SAREBBERO

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It also requires that noneconomic values be squeezed into the economic framework.
Note:TRADE FF TRA I VALORI

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The economic approach also performs best when the distribution of wealth is given, preferences are fixed and well defined,
Note:SAPERE BENE QUEL CHE SI VUOLE...SPESSO NELL ARTE NN È COSÌ

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Often art consumers do not know what they want until it is before them,
Note:Ccccccc

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The economic method, taken alone, is poorly suited for evaluating such choices.
Note:CONCLUSIONE

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Even Richard Posner gave up his wealth maximization standard, in response to scathing criticism from Ronald Dworkin.
Note:Cccccccc

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Wealth may be a useful proxy for other values, such as justice, fairness, happiness, and beauty, but if so (and these connections are not self-evident), we should target these other values directly.
Note:VALORI CON CUI SI RELAZIONA LA RICCHEZZA

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How Do the Differing Approaches View Subsidies?
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In the economic framework, the arts should be subsidized only when they produce significant “positive externalities” at the relevant margin.
Note:CASO CLASSICO DI SUSSIDIO

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arts may improve the social and moral climate
Note:ESEMPIO

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In contrast, most subsidy advocates start by asking whether art subsidies make our society more beautiful.
Note:ALTRO ESEMPIO

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It may be better, all things considered, to have a less efficient but more beautiful society.
Note:Ccccccccccc

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many subsidy advocates subordinate efficiency to the aesthetic, whereas the economist subordinates the aesthetic to the individual preferences
Note:SGARBI

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Rapprochement?
Note:ttttttrr

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between the economic and aesthetic perspectives.
Note:RICONCILIAZIONE

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they might produce agreement on a number of practical questions.
Note:LA SPERANZA

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The Economic Development Argument
Note:Tttttttt ESTERNALITÀ

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The arts generate employment, attract tourists, and produce tax revenue.
Note:L ARGOMENTO X IL SUSSIDIO

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The English composer Henry Purcell was an early proponent of arguments of this kind.
Note:UN PRECEDENTE ILLUSTRE

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In the preface to his opera The Fairy Queen,
Note:DOVE PARLÒ IN QS TERMINI

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the arts add value to a region, but a region adds value to the arts.
Note:CI ASPETTIAMO L ARTE IN CITTÀ

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Most urban economic activity both produces and receives synergistic benefits
Note:VALE X TUTTO

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but this does not imply that all urban activities require government subsidy.
Note:CONCLUSIONE

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Second, social benefits are not unique to the arts.
Note:INOLTRE

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The relevant policy question is, not whether the arts involve some positive externality, but whether the “economic development externality” from the arts is greater than from alternative investments.
Note:LA VERA DOMANDA

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We should be skeptical of “economic impact” studies that show the importance of the arts to a community.
Note:CONCLUSIONE

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When we look at economic impact studies for one industry at a time, they all appear to show high benefits.
Note:PURTROPPO X L ARTE

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“multiplier” effect.
Note:STUDI DA SCARTARE SE PRESENTATI ISOLATAMENTE

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Silicon Valley is an economic powerhouse. Nonetheless the costs of bidding Silicon Valley into Connecticut would probably exceed the benefits.
Note:ANALOGIA

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when cities court sports teams, arenas, and arts donations, often they are bidding those resources away from other cities. In this regard the gains of a single city (or country) do not always bring net gains for the world as a whole.
Note:EFFETTO SPIAZZAMENTO

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Venice therefore has no comparably effective way of investing the money it spends on preservation.
Note:CASI PARTICOLARI

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The “Free-Lunch” Argument: Small Sums vs. Large Sums
Note:tttttt

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NEA expenditures, at their height, were no more than 65¢ for each American citizen.
Note:UN SUSSIDIO USA....ENTITÀ

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Some subsidy advocates talk as if subsidy programs literally cost us nothing
Note:L ARGOMENTO...È UN NULLA!!!

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there is no free lunch,
Note:MA IL MOTTO DEGLI ECONOMISTI.RENDE ASSURDO L ARGOMENTO

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Arguably there are no major individual “life projects” that will fail to be achieved,
Note:CON QUELLA SOMMA IN MENO PUOI FARE ANCORA TUTTO

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They die before spending all their money
Note:MICA VOREAI SPENDERE TUTTO?

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In contrast, government subsidies bring large and visible benefits in the form of discrete projects. The beneficiaries notice the difference,
Note:...E X TANTO POCO...

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We take small amounts from many individuals to give concentrated benefits to a few,
Note:PRINCIPIO ANTIEGALITARIO

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distribution of goodness in society becomes less equal, but our peaks of aesthetic achievement become more beautiful.
Note:Ccccccc

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In more academic terms, the philosophical doctrine known as “perfectionism” suggests that societies should seek to reach their highest possible peaks,
Note:PERFEZIONISMO

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We could, of course, justify many subsidies on these grounds, not just subsidies to the arts.
Note:TUTTAVIA...

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The threshold and perfectionist arguments for subsidies have persuasive force, but they also prove too much.
Note:IL DIFETTO

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Subsidies appear less attractive when evaluated as a bundle.
Note:IL RIMEDIO

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I am hurt by the taxation of 35 percent of my income.
Note:Cccccccf

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Subsidy supporters usually prefer to present and evaluate the subsidy in stand-alone terms.
Note:ANALISI DIFETTOSA

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Subsidy advocates, when they compare arts expenditures to discrete alternatives, frequently have chosen examples from the military
Note:IL PARAGONE PREFERITO

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Which is the correct comparison to make?
Note:DI CERTO IL CFR CON IL PEGGIORE NN È RIGOROSO

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We started by presenting the free-lunch argument as a potential reason for arts subsidies. But it is also a potential reason not to have such subsidies. Under one interpretation of the choices before us, we are condemning thousands of innocent children to death and disease when we subsidize the arts.
Note:PARAGONALO CON GLI AIUTI AD HAITI

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The Decentralization Argument
Note:ttttttALTRO ARGOMENTO X SUSSIDIARE LE ARTI

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we learn by amassing the cooperation of “the best and the brightest” through centralized institutions. The Manhattan Project
Note:IN ALCUNI CASI CONVIENE CONCENTRARE

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Other endeavors require more decentralization. Artistic discovery, for instance, is rarely a matter of brute force, or amassing
Note:IN ALTRI...

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Rather we are hoping that the artist can “look at things differently”
Note:LE VIRTÙ DELLA PERIFERIA

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Creativity flourishes when many different visions have a chance of succeeding.
Note:CREATIVITÀ

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Along these lines, we can view arts funding as a portfolio or investment problem.
Note:ED ECCOCI AI SUSSIDI

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cultural markets resemble Internet start-up firms or classic R & D problems.
Note:ANALOGIA...I PROCESSI DI SCOPERTA

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it makes sense to try many different approaches,
Note:Cccccccc

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the American system satisfies the “Hayekian” standard
Note:GUARDIAMO AI FATTI

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the inability of a central authority to plan discovery.
Note:IL WARNING DI HAYEK

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American arts policy uses government to induce a more decentralized pattern of financial support than would arise through pure laissez-faire.
Note:SECONDO GLI INTERVENTISTI

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development and decentralization arguments are distinct.
Note:MEGLIO CHIARIRE

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Government does not have the knowledge needed to centrally plan innovation.
Note:HAYAK CONTRO LA LOGICA DEGLI INTEEVENTISTI

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government subsidized research into alternative energy sources, such as synfuels and solar energy. The end result was wasted money and little or no net technological progress with energy conservation.
Note:UN ESEMPIO

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Most improvements in energy efficiency have come from market-based institutions,
Note:Ccccccc

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Governments usually stimulate discovery best when they eschew central planning,
Note:AFFIDARSI A MECCANISMI DI MERCATO

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The real question is not whether decentralization is beneficial in today’s world, but rather how we should encourage decentralization
Note:CONCLUSIONE

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Why We Should Support Decentralization
Note:TtttttttARGOMENTI X LA DECENTR...NN NECESSARIAMENTE X IL SUPPORTO

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The first argument for decentralization invokes the aesthetic approach. In this view more art is desirable, especially if the new art meets high critical standards and can stand the test of time.
Note:PRIMO ARGOMENTO...ESTETICO...QUANTITÀ

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The second argument for decentralization invokes the perspective of the economist, and Paretian welfare economics in particular. Information is to some extent a public good and involves a positive externality.

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SECONDO APPROCCIO...ECONOMICO....MENO PUBBLICO PIÙ ESTERNALITÀ

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Shakespeare, Mozart, and Beethoven all made a good living in their lifetime, but they did not reap anything close to the full value of their labors.
Note:ESEMPIO

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The greatest creators are undercompensated relative to their efforts.
Note:Cccccccc

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One estimate (Nordhaus 2004) suggests that creators receive no more than 5 percent of the value of their innovations.
Note:STIMA ESYERNALITÀ..NORDHAUS

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Copyright law is based on the distinction between an idea and the expression of an idea. At most it protects rights to the expression,
Note:IL DIFETTO DEL COPYRIGHT

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The third argument for decentralization also comes from economics. Most extant analyses suggest that entrepreneurs undersupply variety to consumers.
Note:ALTRO ARGOMENTO ECONOMICO....STANDARIZZAZIONE

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Note that the weight of these arguments does not suggest subsidies to art per se.
Note:CHIARIAMO

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the arguments establish that we should encourage decentralized financial support for all creative activities,
Note:AL MASSIMO...SUSSIDI DECENTRALIZZATI

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The Prestige Argument
Note:Tttttttttttt

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Many citizens take pride in the fact that their country produces art of a certain kind,
Note:ORGOGLIO

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many British and French citizens supported public subsidies to the Concorde
Note:ESEMPIO...NOI ABBIAMO ALITALIA

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We salute flags,
Note:Cccccccc

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symbolic reasons.
Note:Ccccc

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The French in particular appear to hold this motive.
Note:FRANCIA

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For this reason, it is often beside the point to argue that the arts will flourish without direct subsidies in the instrumental sense.
Note:QUI SUSSIDIO DIRETTO E CONCENTRATO

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many observers find something objectionable about the idea of allowing the arts to fall exclusively within the private sector.
Note:REPULSA

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Walter Benjamin’s (1986) famous essay “The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction” spoke of artworks as surrounded by an aura,
Note:AURA...E SETTORE PUBBLICO

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national parks also have an aura.
Note:Cccccccc

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Explaining the Pattern of Government Subsidies
Note:Tttttttt

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The prestige argument helps explain the observed pattern of government subsidies, which the other externality arguments cannot do.
Note:CHE COSA SPIEGA MEGLIO L AZIONE

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the most serious externalities are for electronically reproducible popular culture. The ease of unauthorized copying,
Note:SE L ESTERNALITÀ FOSSE L ARGOMENTO

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High culture is less likely to confront an externality of this kind. Many forms of high culture are performed live,
Note:CASO OPPOSTO

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If Maria Callas performances had not been systematically bootlegged by her fans, her income would not have been substantially higher
Note:POCHE ESTERNALITÀ

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Nonetheless we see few calls for the subsidy of heavy metal music and rap.
Note:CONTRADDIZIONE?

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The Netherlands, unlike most other western European countries, has subsidized puppet theater and pantomime. The Japanese subsidize flower arranging.
Note:SI FINANZIA DI TUTTO...PERCHÈ?

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In this context we should not think of the aura of opera as somehow “causing” government subsidies to high art.
Note:SCARTIAMO ALLORA LE MOTIVAZIONI AURA

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Why do we focus subsidies on putting art in museums? The display of paintings in the Bellagio casino, in Las Vegas, attracted more attention
Note:ALTRO DILEMMA

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If “good” artistic works have beneficial social consequences, most likely “bad” artistic works have negative social consequences. Not all art is elevating, ennobling, educational,
Note:ALTRO PROBLEMA

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most moving artworks tend to be the most dangerous and to hold the greatest appeal
Note:TESI DI PLATONE SOCRATE...

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In The Republic Socrates speaks of “the war between philosophy and poetry”
Note:ESEMPIO

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If some artworks make our society worse, the externalities argument suggests that we should discourage them.
Note:COERENZA VUOLE

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it is a short step from “good art, encourage,” to “bad art, discourage.” Many subsidy advocates will disavow this conclusion (note the contrast with extreme conservatives, who often favor censorship
Note:SE VOGLIAMO ESSERE COERENTI

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the prestige argument can clash with the decentralization argument. The decentralization argument calls for effective subsidies, whereas the prestige argument calls for visible subsidies.
ALTRA CONTRADDIZIONE @@@@@@@