Eschewing Scarcity and Finding Abundance

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One perspective on economics, a neoclassical one, looks at economics as the study of how society produces wealth or abundance. Another perspective, a more neoliberal approach, is to conceive of 'economics' as the study of how society confronts scarcity. Too often, examinations of the arts economy focus on the latter: on the scarcity of financial resources, physical resources, technological resources, and so on. As the neoliberalist approach continues to show its fissures and inadequacies both before and during the Covid crisis, we begin to see that scarcity is not derived from the substitutable choices made by individuals but is as much or more a result of systemic inequities. These include unequal access to education, healthcare, secure housing, and, more generally, opportunity. While opportunities to express one’s creativity are often limited by race, class, gender, and geography, creativity itself is an asset that defies such boundaries and limitations and is one held in abundance by artists. How do artists use their creativity to produce the material assets they need to overcome hardship and inequity?