Arts and Economics

"Using the economic point of view for an analysis of phenomena related to artistic activities, Arts & Economics not only challenges widely held popular views, but also offers an alternative perspective to sociological or art historic approaches.The wide range of subjects presented are of current interest and, above all, relevant for cultural policy. The issues discussed include: institutions from festivals to ""superstar"" museums, different means of supporting the arts, including the question whether artistic creativity is undermined by public intervention, an investigation into art as an investment, the various approaches applied when valuing our cultural properties, or why, in a comparative perspective, direct voter participation in cultural policy is not antagonistic to artistic values. TOC:Part I - Combining Art and Economics: Economics of Art: A Personal Survey.- Art: The Economic Point of View.- Part II - Museums and Performing Arts: For Art's Sake - Open Up the Vaults.- Superstar Museums.- Special Exhibitions and Festivals: Culture's Booming Path to Glory.- Private Faces in Public Places: A Case Study of the New Beyeler Art Museum.- Part III - Supporting the Arts: How Can the Arts Be Publicly Promoted? Public Support for the Arts in a Direct Democracy.- Creativity, Government and the Arts.- Part IV - Art Investment and Evaluation: Art Investment Returns.- Evaluation Cultural Porperty.- Art Fakes - What Fakes?"