Even in the United States the mood was beginning to change. Not just because of the CIA and cultural diplomacy abroad, but because scientific research had shown that the performing arts were subject to a cost disease that made them uneconomical. In the early 1960s, two US economists, William Baumol and William Bowen carried out a massive economic and sociological survey of audiences for the performing arts in the USA and Great Britain. Published in 1966 under the title The Performing Arts: The Economic Dilemma. A study of problems common to theater, opera, music and dance. This book led to the formulation of a highly influential economic theory, the cost disease. According to Baumol and Bowen, the performing arts were being gradually strangled by increases in productivity in other sectors due to technological advancements, which drove up the average wage level. In their famous phrase, and I quote, the output per man-hour of the violinist playing a Schubert quartet in a standard concert hall is relatively fixed, and it is fairly difficult to reduce the number of actors necessary for a performance of Henry IV, Part II. Gradually, the cost disease would drive up wages to the point that ticket prices would become uneconomical. They concluded, if, as may be suspected, there are limits to the amounts that can be obtained from private contributors, increased support from other sources will have to be found if the performing arts are to continue their present role in the cultural life of this country and especially if it is intended that they will expand their role and flourish. These other sources were of course, either government money, direct subsidies from the state, or charitable donations. History has proven Baumol right. The performing arts are subject to a cost disease that can only be countered if a, the government provides financial support. Especially for big theaters and opera, the European approach. Or b, tax deductible charitable donations are forthcoming, the American model. But even then, the cost disease persists. As theaters today throughout Europe, in an age of austerity and funding cuts are experiencing. But that is another story.
