Patrick McCoy
The Capital of Art
Almost
every day I hear the drone of aggravated people who claim that the “arts” have
no real benefit for the American economy and that going to school to study in a
more liberal environment and career field is wasteful. However, recent reports
have shown that the music and film culture in the United States has
significantly contributed to the economy. With our society becoming more and
more intertwined and in tune with the world we live in, it is imperative that
we recognize our domestic output capabilities for the international community.
The
world absolutely loves American movies, because our massive budgets pump out
big name films every year: the Hunger Games, Divergent, and Godzilla for
example. All of these films dive head first into countries abroad and their
consumers gladly spend their money to see them. The artistic movie and music
industry has created a staggering 1 trillion dollar for the American GDP – the summation of national
consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports. Essentially, the
gross domestic product conveys a numerical value for a nation’s productivity in
dollars. These benefits have actually trickled down to the workers within these
industries as well; boosting their salaries 33% above the average American pay.
This industry only seems to be growing as the world becomes richer, but these
jobs must be protected in order for the output to continue producing at this
impressive rate.
How
does one measure the economic benefits of the creative community? Analysts have
defined “arts and cultural output based on creative artistic activity and the goods and services produced by it or
used to support it” as the optimal measurement for this industry’s output
potential, much like calculating the national GDP. By calculating the revenue
of this industry using these specific guidelines, economists are This is why
the music industry is so asinine about millions of potential customers
downloading music illegally which, as a result, forces live concert ticket
prices to increase astronomically. If you truly support a particular artist or
band, buy their music. You’ll be doing the economy a great service.
The
only down side to the creative market is that there are a plethora of goods and
services that have no durability, meaning that they’ll lose their value
entirely in a short period of time. Examples of this phenomenon include
columns, blogs, and magazines; all items that will have no true value to
consumers unless they’re looked back upon as significant historical mementos.
Because of this, most of these items are excluded from the revenue of this
industry while calculating national GDP.
So, how exactly
will this affect our economy down the road? If we continue to promote the arts,
we could very well retain our dominance in the movie and artistic industry
worldwide; which is why we cease belittling the efforts of those who wish to
peruse such a career.
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I found it interesting that so many people think that "the arts" are a waste of time and useless while they are daily consumers of the arts. Everyone watches movies or buys decorations for their homes or goes to one of their friends plays or even more commonly buys music. Everyone, at least once in their lives, has supported the arts and most likely received great enjoyment from it. The arts are a great contributor to the economy as it is a constant cycle of bringing people together and bringing money in.
ReplyDeleteBut how many "artists" actually sell their work and make enough money to live off of it? I agree that the arts contribute to our economy in a way we can not over look. It's important for us to understand them. It seems like the most beneficial to our economy and music and movies. For the reasons you already stated. But how much of the GDP comes from people buying art? Does most sales of art go unreported and there for would have no affect on the GDP? What about the money generated buy art exhibits? Are those factored into GDP? Like the Milwaukee art house that we all went to in middle school; however, I do not believe that piracy has as big of an affect on the music industry as stated. Famous artistes already make large sums of money and with I-tunes raising their prices from $.99 to almost $2 you would think that even with the illegal downloading of movies the artistes would still be making more than needed.
ReplyDeleteI think the arts are an important part of our lives and the economy. I remember when I was little I wanted to be an artist and my father told me I wouldn't make any money going into the art field. Now, as a senior and college next year, a part of me still wants to go into the arts, but I know it's a part of the economy that is overlooked by many, including my father. There are so many parts of the arts, like music, film, photography, and literate, not just artwork like paintings or drawings, where I think people don't realize some of the things they're buying are actually art. I always believe in supporting the arts since it's something important to me.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that the arts are that big of a part of the economy. I can't speak for others, but often when discussing "the arts" I tend to think more about small-time painters and sculptors than the folks at Hollywood. With this being said, surely the arts benefits the economy, but probably only a small percentage of artists actually end up contributing, making the job field a risky one at best.
ReplyDeleteI never would have guessed that the arts and music industry would produce 1 trillion dollar towards our GDP. That fact alone blew my mind because you just don't think about music being all that expensive so how can it create that much revenue. It just goes to show how much our US culture has grown as new bands and musicians come to the scene that peak our interest. We buy more music as new music comes out along with older songs from bands that may not be as popular anymore. It is a never ending cycle and it really does show how important our culture is and how important it is to protect that culture.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this I realized how much money is actually generated from the arts. However, I feel that many people overlook this as they view the arts programs in schools especially, as nonessential and not as important as core classes such as math, english, and science courses. I find it frustrating that there are a good handful of people that feel this way because whether they realize it or not, they have used the arts at least once or twice in their own lives. Hopefully, people will eventually realize how much the arts are necessary to the world and the United States' economy.
ReplyDeleteI think you picked a very interesting topic. Most schools only want to promo STEM- Science technology Engineering and Math. Anything else doesn't really help so they cut art programs. If some of those school read this and saw that those things that does fall under the STEM Program does help the students and also everyone. GDP effects everyone. If it is lower then the american people suffer
ReplyDeleteWith industries growing and new employees being hired we always need new skilled workers to fill positions so that companies do not face a shortage of products. When people get a degree in something that not many people get a degree in they become one of the few people that can do those positions. While many may think that shows that there are not many jobs in that industry it could also mean that there is just a low demand for those positions and that the people with those degrees have an advantage. If arts continues to grow others will become interested in filling artistic positions and as a result not only GDP goes up but employees are made aware of brand new employment opportunities.
ReplyDeleteIts crazy to think that many people would rather download music illegally than to actually buy it and support that musician/group. The millions of dollars left on the market by the illegal downloads is crazy to think of how much that alone would help the economy of the "arts." Not only that, but the people making the music are spending their entire lives to entertain us and to spread messages to us and the least we can to do is to actually buy their music to show our support for them and the work that they do.
ReplyDeleteI have never given much thought into how important art is to our society in terms of an economic view point. I personally never really cared for the arts, i was always terrible and i always assumed that most "artist" didn't make much money, simply because its hard to say what is good art and what isn't its all opinion based I now know that it is important but i still feel like only a small percentage of "artist" have a significant effect on the economy.
ReplyDeleteThe arts do indeed bring in a large portion of the US GDP. However, I do think you misinterpreted what people meant. Oftentimes, it alludes to the supposed "modern" art that is seen as being allocatively inefficient. so while the movies and other aspects of modern entertainment do indeed bring in a portion of the GDP, the resources we use to produce them might be better used in other aspects of the economy.
ReplyDeleteI’m glad that the arts affect the economy some how. I want to go into the arts as a career in the future and if the arts weren’t provided in schools, I would have never known that it was something I wanted to do professionally. It’s sad that sometimes the arts can lose their value entirely in a short period of time. The arts are something that seems timeless to me, but since they affect the economy and GDP, I can see how losing their value connects with those things. But the GDP doesn’t have to worry about me, because the arts will always be timeless in my heart.
ReplyDeleteAs I go around looking at colleges and deeply consider the opportunity of getting an art degree, I'm actually shocked at how much the industry produces on its own! I can understand why people think the arts are not a good business, after all, it's a risky one that can have many negative extranalities. But while the arts are frowned upon, they are also a crucial part of society. Without the arts, our society wouldn't be so diverse, and that would be a true tragedy.
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