_The Creative Wealth of Nations_ understanding; while, at the same time, their labour is both so constant and so severe, that it leaves them little leisure and less inclination to apply to, or even to think of anything else.<sup>61</sup> Regarding arts education, severe constraints leave underprivileged children fewer chances to engage in such “ornamental knowledge.” Meanwhile, parents with means are more likely to court arts education for their children — even if for unrealistic motives. This wedge adds to the hypothesis that arts education is for the privileged, the elite, or intellectuals. On the macro level, it is easy to see why some may claim that arts subjects are a luxury, which developing countries cannot afford. In other words, the already limited resources should be allocated to more ‘useful’ subjects like math and science. In policy design, as discussed next, there is a need to overcome such thinking.

# _Beyond the Mozart Effect_

Many parents in the United States and elsewhere have been known to push their children to practice long hours of piano, violin or other instruments on this premise: Music Makes Kids Smarter. In fact, the “disciples of the 1993 "Mozart Effect" study made impressive claims: Listening to music, they said, could boost Junior's math scores and maybe even get him into Harvard. The idea sparked a cottage industry of CDs, classes and books for babies and toddlers.”<sup>62</sup> In policy spheres, Governor Zell Miller of the American state of Georgia took this to heart: out of his USD$12.5 billion budget proposal for the fiscal year 1999, he requested USD$105,000 to provide Classical music CDs to every child born in the state of Georgia.<sup>63</sup> But a recent Harvard study claims that the “effects of early music education on children's cognitive development are unknown.”<sup>64</sup> The “report provides no consistent evidence for cognitive transfer from music training: preschool music classes did not cause detectable skill increases in the cognitive domains of spatial, linguistic, or numerical reasoning.”<sup>65</sup> * This observation is critical. In the argument for education or development policy, the arts do not have to make children smart to be valuable.

The intrinsic value of arts education is profound. It engenders traits that include curiosity, creative thinking or imagination, discipline, empathy, dealing with ambiguity, learning by doing, learning from mistakes, and social engagement — traits that are harder to quantify, but

> 61 Adam Smith, _The Wealth of Nations_ , 6th ed. ed. Edwin Cannan (London: Methuen and Co. Ltd., 1950), Vol. II, 269.

> 62 “After the 'Mozart Effect': Music's Real Impact on the Brain,” WQXR, November 6, 2013, accessed May 20, 2014, http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/after-mozart-effect-music-impact-brain/.

> 63 “Georgia Governor Zell Miller proposes writing 'The Mozart effect' into law,” History, accessed May 20 2014, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/georgia-governor-zell-miller-proposes-writing-quotthe-mozart- <u>effectquot-into-law.</u>

> 64 Samuel A. Mehr, Adena Schachner, Rachel C. Katz, and Elizabeth S. Spelke, “Two Randomized Trials Provide No Consistent Evidence for Nonmusical Cognitive Benefits of Brief Preschool Music Enrichment,” _PLOS ONE_ , December 11, 2013, accessed May 20, 2014, <u>http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0082007.</u> 65 Ibid.

> * But, still, there is research that suggests otherwise.  For example see: Joanne Lipman, “A Musical Fix for American Schools,” _Wall Street Journal_ , October 10, 2014, accessed October 15, 2014, <u>http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/a-musical-fix-for-american-schools-1412954652lMyQjAxMTE0OTEzMzExNjMzWj.</u>

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