Portrait of an Artist as a Poor Economist

From today's C-J, a letter to the editor from "the leader of a local arts organization"-- on federal funding for the arts...

When there is a downturn in the economy, the arts are one of the first industries hit and are last to recover. We don't hear much about the arts as an industry, but when we do it is that the stimulus plan would give "pork" spending of $50 billion to the National Endowment for the Arts....

Sad but true-- and predictable. So, I'm sure that wise management in the arts sector plans ahead for such rainy days, yes? In any case, whatever the merits of taking money from taxpayers to support the arts, it certainly qualifies as pork within an "economic stimulus" package.

There are approximately 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations, which spend $63.1 billion annually, employing 6 million people and contributing $167 billion to the economy annually.

Here, Drury is confusing the economic impact of voluntary activity with the impact of coerced, taxpayer-financed activity.

Without an economic stimulus for the nonprofit arts industry, about 10 percent of these organizations are expected to shut their doors in 2009 -- a loss of 260,000 jobs....

And what of the alternative? Any industry could make this sort of claim. Should we bail all of them out?

If you want to see the downfall of a society, take away its arts and culture!

Take away? How? I missed the legislation that outlawed it. Ohh....he means how much money should we forcibly exact from taxpayers to support the arts. Ahhh, I see....