{"id":2165,"date":"2016-12-28T08:34:46","date_gmt":"2016-12-28T16:34:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/?p=2165"},"modified":"2016-12-28T08:34:46","modified_gmt":"2016-12-28T16:34:46","slug":"overbuilding-of-cultural-facilities-and-economic-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/12\/overbuilding-of-cultural-facilities-and-economic-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Overbuilding of cultural facilities and &#8216;economic impact&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pyramids.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2166\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pyramids-300x168.jpeg\" alt=\"Egypt's economy must have been booming\" width=\"300\" height=\"168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pyramids-300x168.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pyramids-360x200.jpeg 360w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pyramids.jpeg 686w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Followers of this blog are familiar with my thoughts on &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/11\/why-its-time-to-completely-totally-finally-give-up-on-economic-impact-studies-in-the-arts\/\">economic impact<\/a>&#8216; studies. But I think I have forgotten to mention yet another way in which these studies are not only useless, but positively harmful. (This was suggested by an exchange with Ian David Moss in my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/12\/what-do-we-actually-mean-by-intrinsic-benefits\/\">previous post<\/a>&#8216;s discussion thread).<\/p>\n<p>A consensus has been emerging that there has been a significant degree of overbuilding of large scale cultural facilities, where by &#8216;overbuilding&#8217; we mean construction whose costs far exceed the resulting benefits. What might have contributed to this?<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lacma.org\/sites\/default\/files\/LAEDC%20Report_FINAL_0.pdf\">Here&#8217;s<\/a> an &#8216;economic impact&#8217; study of the expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. <a href=\"http:\/\/cra.gmu.edu\/pdfs\/researach_reports\/other_research_reports\/NVBIA_report_2007\/aCorcoran_Gallery_Expansion.pdf\">Here&#8217;s<\/a> one for an expansion of the Corcoran, from a few years back. What do they have in common? They treat the <em>cost<\/em> of construction as a <em>benefit<\/em>, one that generates lots of &#8216;economic impact.&#8217; If you treat your construction costs as a benefit, and the gains from having expanded exhibition space as a benefit as well (as it should be), then <em>no project will possibly fail a cost-benefit test<\/em>. It&#8217;s benefits all the way down, even if the gains from extra exhibition space, or seating, are very small. So why say &#8216;no&#8217; to any building proposal? And the result of following this advice is exactly what we would expect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Followers of this blog are familiar with my thoughts on &#8216;economic impact&#8216; studies. But I think I have forgotten to mention yet another way in which these studies are not only useless, but positively harmful. (This was suggested by an exchange with Ian David Moss in my previous post&#8216;s discussion thread). A consensus has been [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2166,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-issues","8":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/pyramids.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3dIW5-yV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":741,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/04\/what-do-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-the-economic-impact-of-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2165,"position":0},"title":"What do we talk about when we talk about the economic impact of the arts?","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 30, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In the news from Britain in the past week has been a speech by Culture Minister Maria Miller on the arts and the economy in the UK - the full text is here. Commentary has ranged from the concern about putting too much emphasis on the economic, to how we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"multiplier","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/yorkshire-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2585,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2020\/11\/economic-impact-a-quick-and-dirty-critique\/","url_meta":{"origin":2165,"position":1},"title":"Economic Impact: A Quick and Dirty Critique","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"November 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Teaching arts policy this fall, I needed a two-page briefing to warn my students off using economic impact studies as an arts advocacy tool. Here's the result: What is an Economic Impact Study? Definitions are hard to come by. I can tell you how a number is calculated, so let\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 3 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 3 comments","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2020\/11\/economic-impact-a-quick-and-dirty-critique\/#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"big impact","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cranberries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cranberries.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cranberries.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cranberries.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cranberries.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/cranberries.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2135,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2016\/11\/why-its-time-to-completely-totally-finally-give-up-on-economic-impact-studies-in-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2165,"position":2},"title":"Why it&#8217;s time to completely, totally, finally give up on economic impact studies in the arts","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"November 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is my last attempt at this topic, based on some recent (friendly!) twitter conversations and questions. One. Let me start with some data. Here, from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, are sector shares of GDP (i.e. the total value added from each sector) for recent years. If you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"no, I don't think it will really work","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/kill-projects-like-vampire.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/kill-projects-like-vampire.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/kill-projects-like-vampire.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1119,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2014\/03\/a-cautionary-note-on-the-social-and-economic-value-of-the-arts\/","url_meta":{"origin":2165,"position":3},"title":"A Cautionary Note on the Social and Economic Value of the Arts","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"March 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Arts Council England has released a new report on The Value of Arts and Culture to People and Society: An Evidence Review. What to make of it? From the foreword by the Chair of the Council, Sir Peter Bazalgette: Of course the inherent value of arts and culture is, in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"think of the grandchildren","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/keynes4-300x290.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":791,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2013\/05\/the-economic-impact-of-everything-a-response\/","url_meta":{"origin":2165,"position":4},"title":"The economic impact of everything: a response","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"May 16, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I will present a thoughful comment from my previous post in full, since it is worth addressing in depth: Respectfully, so what if \u201cmany, many firms will approach government with the same claims\u201d of job creation and economic impact? So what if every living organism announces what economic benefit they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"we get letters","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/postbox-224x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2346,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/2018\/04\/lets-move-before-they-change-the-parking-rate\/","url_meta":{"origin":2165,"position":5},"title":"Let&#8217;s move before they change the parking rate","author":"Michael Rushton","date":"April 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"No, I cannot quit writing about economic-impact-of-the-arts reports. Let's try something a little more focused, and talk about ... parking. Parking is part of the cost of attending a show, if it takes place in an area without free parking and you don't live nearby. Economists think charging for parking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;issues&quot;","block_context":{"text":"issues","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/category\/issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"vibrant!","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/parking-lot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/parking-lot.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/parking-lot.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/parking-lot.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/parking-lot.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/parking-lot.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2165"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2168,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2165\/revisions\/2168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/worth\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}