Abstract
Abstract The present paper is a defense of the free-market economy/capitalism as a proper institutional setting for both producing and preserving cultural goods. We argue that culture is best served by a framework in which economic agents can evaluate their cultural consumption and production in a market order based on private property rights and monetary prices. In this vein, we first put, in contrast, two important lines of thought on the subject of value and capital in cultural matters. On the one hand, the mainstream approach upholds both that “cultural value” is intrinsic (and measurable) and that a fourth type of capital (namely “cultural capital”) can be introduced in the capital theory. On the other hand, by using a qualitative research methodology, based on deductive reasoning and historical analysis, we contrast the mainstream/neoclassic view with the praxeological approach of the Austrian School of economics. We conclude that neither “cultural value” is an objective fact, nor that the very concept of “cultural capital” can be integrated coherently in the economic theory. Yet, we claim that private management of cultural goods is superior to their public administration, due to (1) a genuine interest of private owners to rationally exploit cultural goods according to the subjective preferences of cultural consumers, (2) the inbuilt sustainability of the free-market economy as concerns the efficient exploitation of the cultural goods.
Highlights
Freedom of expression – the quintessence of culture – is in solidarity with the free market, in which the material resources it needs for its very existence circulate
“classic” novels or symphonies have a daily audience greater than in the entire life of their creators; we might only think here about the abundance of digital distribution or streaming channels that enable an instant, “on the spot” consumption of classical writings or music, requiring almost no effort at all on behalf of the consumer to get in possession of such cultural goods: the bookstore or the concert hall have moved, via the world wide web, within the living room of the consumer, allowing a facile, fast and – if desired by the customer – repeated consumption of cultural goods
It has to be considered that the world demographics have multiplied considerably since the epochs when what we nowadays term as “classic” culture was produced
Summary
The assertion that the free market (or capitalism) represents the friendliest social arrangement for culture and art is not a very fashionable one. Stem from the ability of gifted people to inspire, amuse, or educate those who come in contact with their work and/or in its possession. Art cannot be created by armed force or political privileges, because human thoughts and emotions can be neither enforced on others nor expropriated from them. Their expression can only be inhibited and delayed by suppressing their means of expression. The market economy encourages cultural, artistic production in obvious ways. Mankind has gotten more and more relieved from the burden of physical labor through technological breakthroughs, human intelligence, and talent becoming available to pursue a wide range of spiritual avenues
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