Commerce and Culture

Episodes

1. 10

   The Economic Basis of Culture

   [From the 2006 Commerce and Culture Seminar, presented by Paul Cantor.] Now that Marxists have lost the economic arguments, culture is now the last battleground between Marxism and free markets. Marxists say mass production of anything ruins it. But this is elitist thinking. In Marxist thinking,...

   Nov 15, 2018
2. 10

   10. Conclusion: Culture as Pop Culture

   We have such a bias against commercial art in our culture that Cantor tries to show that some of the great art of the past grew out of commercial activity. Cantor had never played a video game, so he had to work through those. He sees that this is where things are going. Ignoring the migration of...

   Jul 29, 2006
3. 8

   8. The Rise of the Motion Picture

   The motion picture is purely commercial art. Lack of taste can earn a producer a fortune. This is the perfect intersection of commerce and culture. Most movies are bad, but many are very good. The movie form is so recent, that its history is right there to see. It was just a novelty item at…

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   Jul 28, 2006
4. 9

   9. When is a Network Not a Network?

   Television is not better because you don’t want it to be. The relation of government and television and movies are certainly not free markets, just relatively free markets. TV has always been in a regulated environment. TV is licensed by the federal government. Movies were incredibly freer,...

   Jul 28, 2006
5. 6

   6. The Economics of Modernism

   Modernism was a reaction to mass culture and totalitarianism government support. Are artists better off being shielded from markets and commercial pressures? There are pluses and minuses to commercial systems. Commercialization produced more novels. Capitalists gave readers what they wanted and...

   Jul 27, 2006
6. 7

   7. Totalitarianism and the Arts in the 20th Century

   Art can flourish under any conditions. Many falsely imagine that commercialization is always a bad thing, but the commercial system has produced great art, too. Totalitarianism and modernism is the last thing anyone wants to say anything good about. A musicologist of Moscow said Russian composer...

   Jul 27, 2006
7. 4

   4. The Economics of Classical Music: Patronage vs. the Market

   There was a conflict between patronage and the market in music, as reflected in the book, Quarter Notes and Banknotes. The classical music tradition is traced back to Paris. The Court of Burgundy in the 14th and 15th Century begins to get interesting. Development around Venice and the first…

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   Jul 26, 2006
8. 5

   5. The Serialized Novel in the Nineteenth Century

   Dickens’ work reflects popular culture as a feedback mechanism. He saluted middle class virtues. He praised capitalism. He had high regard for free enterprise. Dickens was the greatest novelist in English. Dickens died a very wealthy man. We are now in the world of commodification. Mass…

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   Jul 26, 2006
9. 2

   2. Shakespeare's Theater

   This is a great example of commercial art and a great commercial artist – Shakespeare. Nobody does like competition, but competition, like Marlowe and Johnson, is healthy for culture. Shakespeare had to approach entrepreneurial backers in London who had surplus wealth to invest in a capital…

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   Jul 25, 2006
10. 3

    3. The Economics of Painting: Patronage vs. the Market

    A priceless Klimt painting turned out at auction to have a price - $135 million. Scholarship on painting is sympathetic to markets, unlike scholarship on music. Picasso was even called an entrepreneur. Picasso was quite wealthy early in his career and died a billionaire. Not every artist starves....

    Jul 25, 2006