Welcome the Creative Economy
By: Terry Schwadron
Tags: Budget, Manufacturing, Trump Administration, Jobs, Arts

Terry H. Schwadron

Nov. 10, 2019

An interesting new government report in New York City underscores the strength of what is coming to be called the Creative Economy, an under-measured trend that federal officials ought to be noting as they push for financial supports to create more manufacturing jobs while reducing public monies for the arts.

The report by New York City Controller Scott Stringer’s office does the math to show that creatives count as “a defining economic sector for New York City — on par with finance, real estate or law — with its own policy challenges and pressures deserving of rigorous review and analysis.”

Since Donald Trump took office, he has tried annually to cut all spending by the National Endowment on the Arts and the Endowment for the Humanities. Each year, Congress has restored the money. It’s worth noting, because annual spending bills are coming up again this month in Congress.

The Creative Economy: Art, Culture and Creativity in New York City “ directly employs over 293,000 people, paying $30.4 billion in wages. It is greater than the sum of its parts, providing tens of thousands of jobs not just for artists and actors, but for museum administrators, sewing machine operators, sound technicians, and the myriad other jobs that make up the creative economy, not to mention the hotel and restaurant workers, suppliers, construction workers and others whose jobs rely in some measure on the sector. Altogether, the sector is responsible for some $110 billion in total economic activity — or one in every eight dollars churning through the City’s economy.”

One of every eight dollars of economic output in New York City — 13% or $110 billion in 2017 — can be traced directly or indirectly to cultural workers, says Stringer, adding that New York City has a higher share of creative workers than the rest of the country which comes in closer to 4% of workers or economic spending.

Nevertheless, it begs the question, why does the White House insist that coal mining jobs are more necessary to build than support for dancers, musicians, writers, actors, stage managers, film produces and editors, photographers and others who make up these creative fields? Is it strictly for political pandering purposes to win elections in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, or is Trump once again hopelessly lost in what kinds of jobs are growing and can grow more if there is even a modicum of support.

Support is not only NEA grants, though those help, of course. It is recognizing that reliable health care and housing policies are necessary for a successfully growing freelancer-based economy.

Neveretheless, Stringer’s group notes that cultural workers as a group have continued to add jobs even in down economic periods. Too many of those jobs are volatile, even as they are entrepreneurial. Part-time jobs are prevalent, with periods of unemployment common. As Stringer notes, “These workers lack access to benefits and protections available to employees, such as affordable health insurance and unemployment insurance.”

For Stringer, the findings support clear next steps that make sense, but are not part of any usual political campaign approach. According to Stringer, once the city — or state or nation — recognizes the size of the cultural economy, clear next steps would be to create institutional supports like a task force under the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, creation of cultural districts and programs to help incubate new efforts — to treat culture essentially the same way we look at manufacturing or autos or technology sectors.

The State of New York has similarly set out to identify cultural sectors, noting that 460,000 in the state work in these areas, or almost 8 percent of economic output. The New York Council on the Arts has fostered cultural districts in the city of Troy, as an example. The council supports local grant programs in all 62 counties, supporting both individuals and institutions to promote business at large and tourism in particular.

The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies sets the value of arts and cultural production in America for 2016 at $804.6 billion, about 4.2% of gross domestic product. But the group notes that the arts contribute more to the national economy than do the construction, mining, utilities, insurance, and accommodation and food services industries. The group says that between 1998 and 2015, the arts and culture sector’s contribution to GDP grew by 40%.

The NEA’s Office of Research adds that cultural work counts in all the ways that Trump likes to count: Arts and culture production is nearly five times greater than that of the agricultural sector. Arts and culture adds nearly $60 billion more than construction and $227 billion more than transportation and warehousing to the U.S. economy. Arts and cultural goods create a trade surplus. Exports are driven by movies and TV programs, advertising, and arts-related software such as video games. And, clearly, cultural production accounts for more than its share of consumer spending.

An effective president might look at information rather than political gut to find out what’s working well and could result in better growth. You probably won’t find it first in market-burdened coal states, where mines continue to close.

##

www.terryschwadron.wordpress.com