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Literature and the Economics of Liberty: Spontaneous Order in Culture
Publication
Author: Paul A. Cantor Stephen D. Cox
Online Publish Date:
Category: Media and Culture
The economic interpretation of literature is dominated by ideas derived from Marxism — ideas that demonize the market as the enemy of all that is good.  This book, edited by well-known literary critics Paul Cantor (University of Virginia) and Stephen Cox (University of California, San Diego) turns the prevailing paradigm upside down — criticism
Shelley’s Radicalism: The Poet as Economist
Publication
Author: Paul A. Cantor
Online Publish Date:
Category: Media and Culture
Paul A. Cantor, “Shelley’s Radicalism,” in Paul A. Cantor and Stephen Cox, eds., Literature and the Economics of Liberty: Spontaneous Order in Culture (Auburn, Ala.: Mises Institute, 2009), chap. 4. [Chapter 4 from Literature & the Economics of Liberty: Spontaneous Order in Culture , edited by Paul A. Cantor and Stephen Cox.] The real difference
Much Ado about Nothing in the Art Market
Mises Wire
Author: Paul A. Cantor
Online Publish Date:
Nothing will come of nothing. Shakespeare, King Lear If, as we are often told, the aim of art is to shock the bourgeoisie, then the contemporary art scene has become positively electric of late. In the most recent aesthetic outrage, a Sardinian artist named Salvatore Garau managed to sell an invisible sculpture, known simply as “I am,” to an
2. Shakespeare’s Theater
Media Asset
Author: Paul A. Cantor
Online Publish Date:
Category: Media and Culture
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 project so that people might spend money on
3. The Economics of Painting: Patronage vs. the Market
Media Asset
Author: Paul A. Cantor
Online Publish Date:
Category: Philosophy and Methodology, Media and Culture
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. Painting requires a certain level of economic
4. The Economics of Classical Music: Patronage vs. the Market
Media Asset
Author: Paul A. Cantor
Online Publish Date:
Category: Calculation and Knowledge, Media and Culture
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 14 th and 15 th Century begins to get interesting. Development around Venice and the first operas flourished in roughly the first time and in
5. The Serialized Novel in the Nineteenth Century
Media Asset
Author: Paul A. Cantor
Online Publish Date:
Category: Media and Culture, World History
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 production of a unified product was demanded.
6. The Economics of Modernism
Media Asset
Author: Paul A. Cantor
Online Publish Date:
Category: Calculation and Knowledge, Media and Culture
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 made reading widespread. Modernism in some ways set